Long Traipsed Poems

Impossible mission to sleep on opposite side of marital bed...

Oddly enough even 
when frolicking in the autumn mist
with seasoned super tramping 
cheaply tricked out goo goo dolls
some resembling Indigo Girls,
one foo fighting beastie boy
unable to...

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Personal vicissitudes pronounced irrepressible self loathing

Ever since mine late boyhood
when unstoppable coded 
cellular processes did segue
I experienced abhorrence
toward yours truly,
an extremely introverted kid,
whose parents nor siblings
(one younger and older sister) could
not arouse him 

out of...

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[A few years ago, I wrote this poem “On Writing Poetry” for creative writing students. I hesitated to put it on Poetry Soup, but I did some revisions and decided to share it with you....

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Come, You
by Rainer Maria Rilke
translation by Michael R. Burch

Come, you—the last one I acknowledge; return—
incurable pain searing this physical mesh.
As I burned in the spirit once, so now I burn
with you; meanwhile, you consume my...

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Liebes-Lied (“Love Song”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

How can I withhold my soul so that it doesn’t touch yours?
How can I lift mine gently to higher things, alone?
Oh, I would gladly find...

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I knew a man of careful life who longed to explore uncharted lands,
But family ties and circumstance for him held different plans.

Sometimes he would take a walk and find himself on the edge,
Of a great...

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II.
Zack supposed the some safety had been found,
hopefully they could find fresh water here,
but even so, the place looked deserted,
he doubted that they’d find a rescue near.

They’d probably have to signal somehow,
a fire or rock...

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Go play in the sandpit was the call from my Mother,
Whenever I was bored.
My first teacher then took over from my Mother,
In repeating those same words of Wisdom.
Thankfully the words had sunk in by the...

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Imagine Earth itself to be just another Troy, from which, after having raged
In countless battles from Tyre to Megiddo has not been conquered, only aged
And now, having defeated the Spartan race, destroying Priam’s home
Odysseus is...

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"For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honour of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories together with...

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Birdie’s Bar
August 19, 2008

To the old Plymouth
Mom came to salvage her brood
We’d hear the crunch of gravel beneath her feet
She dragged us three sleepy eyed girls
Sullen
Curious 
Non-entities
We took our mealy mouths up and followed her
Out...

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In Days of Robin Hood

In days of yore,
In days of Robin Hood,
A merry band of outlaws
Rambled throughout Sherwood forest
(Home of the Major Oak,
North of Windsor Castle,
And South of Hadrian’s Wall).

They dressed in Lincoln green,
And whistled...

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Spring appears in waves of magenta, ochre, and kelly green 

Prisms dance across hallways and ceilings 

Raucous laughter rolls over fields of clover 

Each child spreads their arms and runs, tumbles, 
and blows bubbles 

Afternoon...

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There's mischief in the air, and in the sky
Rises fair, sublime, and rare - Blue Moon.
Son of Venus, hidden, now lets fly
An arrow to a chaste fair maid who soon
Shall spy a youthful eager boy...

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*Image of Seashell On Beach Sand by Pixabay.

"A seashell should be the crest of England, not only because it represents a power built on the waves, but also the hard finish of the men." 
by...

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no one allowed accompany him 
a lonely spirit in the dark of the night
wanders with the bone-chilling air, shivering 

when he traipsed to find a place to set root down 
it was always autumn during...

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Running on cliff edges cranked her adrenalin 
Stagger of gravels' release, tipped in avalanche
Scared her terrifically, able to surrendour then 
Driven to dare's taunt irresistible, emancipated

Victims of her craft came willingly to her dim den
Always...

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Frank Osgood
1870-1919

I was the great wanderlust of Whittier!
From 1890 until my last days,
I followed my nose, 
And other body appendages,
To distant earthly destinations, 
Both sensational and disgusting,
From the calm tranquility of a secure home,
To the...

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Pitter-Patter on my Heart

Do not believe that your size in any way
diminishes the depth of my affection for you.
Some may say you are mere eating-pooping machines
but ever since you traipsed into my life a year...

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Married into esteem, wet blood of rubies
Eighty one ladybugs jitter over decoletage
Prince winks at my wonderment, approving
Twinkle pink flashes, silk rhubarb mirage

His newest attainment suitably adorned
Heavy with resplendent raspberry prize
Chest rise and fall, cool gems...

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up a steep and narrow road
reach the tops
wilderness reclaims a verge
of wintery snags
land juts and tilts
hauls out
lays treeless

clumps and hags
pitch up stricken soil
heap above the miry troughs 

loud the heartbeat
nearer to feral thought
then any mouth...

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Wearing new skin, this lady's all anew
 Brandishing epidermal camouflage
A new sense of comforted composure
  Gallantly striding in a way she never had
Safely
  Stepping
     Strengthened
I dare not ask to...

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Her sultry tone devoured at my ego, clawed at my patience and diminished my already sullen sense of self like 
a pack of hyenas slowly and methodically move in for the kill; every move is...

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He traipsed toward my face.
My grey, imperious majesty.
Impervious to strong fingers
and rubber-soled feet

His face set, hard as my stone, 
bearing a load as heavy as avarice,
hungry comes my challenger.
This conqueror of realms, 
remains of breakfast...

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(Good Advice Spurned)

Grandmother packed a picnic lunch.
Brother, sister, and I, with two uncles
traipsed into the woods,
in search of adventure.

We found it.
We ate our picnic lunch, sitting 
on a fallen tree, spanning the creek.

We sampled “Rabbit...

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