Long Taps Poems

you were an infant
i would sing a song i created for you

'there's a baby in my arms
there's a baby in the mirror
but honey 
there's not really two
the child in the mirror
is only 
an image 
of...

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It's weird
and sometimes wild
living with a non-LeftBrain verbal dominant
aspiring child,
now young adult

I find myself waiting for him
to nonverbally connect
and correct me
about my patriarchal domineering
economic and political ableist sins
of felt omission from commercial value
and, perhaps worse,
my...

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Fork git about spooner hiz ham

And join (singing the words 
in the next paragraph) whether alone
in a traffic jam
basting, cooking, then eating a lamb
prepared by thee missus
a superb culinary madam.

“A Ram Sam Sam” Lyrics
A ram...

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I see a rose wilting by the darkness of an abusive husband/
And I feel guilty just standing by and not doing something/
I’m proving nothing with my inactivity and hollow words/
Truth is hard to swallow but...

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Out with his boys drinking, feeling rowdy
Special occasion
Rolling the way they do
His lover is not with them
She stayed in for the night
He misses her company
But enjoys his time with the guys
He'll swing by later

A local...

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Here's the scoop, friends...
   This is, as indicated, the 1st HALF of this fairly lengthy poem. The 2nd half had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations. No other way...

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Give me a minute to catch my breath before I discover what’s in store
Embrace your passions…never let it go…
I smell the scent of death…what am I waiting for?
Embrace your passions…never let it go…
One…two…three…four…I’m waiting behind...

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Preface: 
On February 4, 1861,
the seven states that had seceded
by this point convened and created
the Confederate States of America
under the leadership of Jefferson Davis.

Just under two months later,
on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces
opened fire on...

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Being a Military of the Purple Heart member 
simply loving a Purple Heart recipient days 
can sometimes be very long seated with these 
brave men and women the strength of our very own
purple heart members...

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He’s called the Eulogizer
He reluctantly accepts this moniker as our elder
A name for which he feels disdain 
Since it conjures memories of unspeakable pain
 
He's lost a father, mother, sister and son
His nights sleepless realizing...

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This Time Last Month

A customer
Opens door
Bell lets out two rings
That smell of books
Telescopes
Globes and other things.

Travel guides
Atlases
Maps strewn everywhere
Customer
Breaks fourth wall
Speaks as if you're there:


"I got upset when I first heard 
this shop was closing...

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There once was a piano that wanted to be
Anything other than of white, black keys
She loved her parents and her fabulous family
But she lacked love for self and her maroon melody

She asked the trumpet so...

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I feel most free when  

Authoring the email and just press ‘send’  

Letting go  

From someone I left in the snow  

A partner ever so cold  

Decided this relationship hand...

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SPRINGTIME MEMORIES



Mountain sentinels
By ancient town;
Clear waters cascade


Cobblestone streets
Winding pavements;
Trade offerings buzz


Fertile plains
Crystal clear waters;
Shady trees guard


Treasure-hunting stroll...
Through Lijiang Old Town;
Curiosity detours


So many things to see
Pleasant fare tempting;
Buying spree bargains


Artisans at work
Township flings open trade;
Silver metal...

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Bartender Oh Bartender
(a stout rendition of O Captain! My Captain!
Perfect rhythmic rhyme with tonic 
when the doth ale).

Mine eyes espy the glory per the ending 
of another work day beckon Baileys Irish Creme
with Absolut certainty...

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His thick-soled hiking shoes
tread too loudly
to celebrate time's homing invitation
to hear and see, 
feel and smell resonantly hidden diversity
within Spirit's wooded ridge.

He stops to break from sacrilegious pounding
plodding echoes
reverberating through ears attuned for inside voices,
languaged...

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She Was Very Pretty
by Michael R. Burch

She was very pretty, in the usual way
for perhaps a day;
and when the boys came out to play,
she winked and smiled, then ran away
till one unexpectedly caught her.

At sixteen,...

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Dragon did a pratfall, his tail accidentally taking his Mama’s computer out.
Poor Mama’s mind, lost its’ cool, as her computer hit the floor and went out.
Withdrawal left steam coming out of her ears, as nightmares...

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Ray has a hole, now, taps a long bar in,
And ties the winch to it, and turns it on,
“STAY BACK!” he howls, “THIS CABLE’S ALMOST GONE!”
The bar flies out, the cover slips, the din

The winch-engine...

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I volunteered for service in the RAF in early 1942,
When I’d just become 18 and got three shillings a day;
I became a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner right through,
And was then sent home to await training, the...

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Mystic sounds move slowly against  the face of the cragged purple mountains.  Towers of lost forgotten cities peek seductively through canopies of age old trees.  Grey mists hide millennia of secrets behind...

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Demon eyes that dwell in blue
porcelain skin pale and new
Hair of raven full and black
lips so shy color they lack

Boy so thin spitefully tall
his glare in night is recalled
Taps his fingers on the table
drinks hard...

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Spy vs. Poet - pen trickery

(A collaborative poem by Serena Storm and Joel Thornton)


Dissimulating cloak – an apocryphal script 
Ah, I see "I" the spy has stumbled upon new tricks 

Disloyalty - The Perfidy -...

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Nine nine  

A story I needed to find  

My credentials were declined  

But it was Sunday, I did not mind  

Honestly, I tried  

Decided, ‘take a ride’  

Into the...

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The Almost Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent Tech God Oisin
Session 1: Tech support notes from the “any” key and sentience case


 “Hello this is Oisin. How may I help you?” Oisin says in his polite business voice.

“Oh,...

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