Richard Burton
was uncertain
if Liz Taylor cried
Fred Astaire
liked Ginger Rogers'
graceful derriere
Ricky Ricardo
said 'I Love Lucy'
Those two had a ball
Superman or 'Mr. Kent'
for Lois Lane
was never meant
Archie Bunker
loved fawning Edith
despite her awkward clunkers
Mister Ed
had fun with W-I-L-B-U-R
playing mind games with his head
Dobie Gillis
dreamed of girls
pity, he had no pearls
Dick Van Dyke
was never sure
'bout Mary Tyler Moore
Julie Andrews
stole his heart
in Mary Poppins' part
Old George Burns
wife was spacy ~
'Say Goodnight, Gracie!'
Categories:
richard burton, celebrity, film, fun, nostalgia,
Form: Rhyme
I wake from a bad dream
Hey there new man
That’s what they said to me
Hey there how’s it been lately?
I stand, look and see
Elvis, Martin Luther King and John Lennon walk on by so casually.
Roy Orbison and Freddie Mercury harmonising with Liberace as the queen mother watches whilst sipping tea
As I walk what looks like on nothing
I see Winston Churchill talking with Audie Murphy as Lewis Collins stares at me
I say hello to Marylyn Monroe or Norma Jean as Tony Curtis politely corrects me
Burgess Meredith tells me to do push ups, James Mason steadies me. Richard Burton drinking with Roger Moore on one round table and on the table next to them John Thaw doing a crossword - difficultly!
I walk on aimlessly as I see Bruce Lee training ferociously. Clark Gable playing cards with Humphrey Bogart and General Custer sipping whiskey with Einstein, Herriot, Tolkien and Agatha Christie - something too mind bending to me!
I walk through some glass doors and a whole world of familiar faces turns to see.
I wake up suddenly.
I sit up and can’t believe how real that felt to me.
Categories:
richard burton, appreciation, cool, crazy, dream,
Form: Free verse
Liz and Richard
The actor Richard Burton
loved Liz Taylor for certain.
While filming “Cleopatra”
her heart he did capture.
Liz really thought Rich
would be her last hitch.
Love must have been nice.
She married him twice.
1/13/19
Clerihew Couples for Valentine's Day Sponsored by: Carolyn Devonshire 2nd place
MID MAR 19 ,ANY FORM,ANY THEME,UPTO MAX OF 8 (E I G H T
Sponsor, Brian Strand 3rd place
Categories:
richard burton, satire,
Form: Clerihew
Don’t miss out!
Elizabeth Taylor's most valuable,
Two hundred and sixty-nine jewel sale
Thirty Million Dollar auction,
Including her Emerald collection,
She quoted that her ring
Gave her the strangest feeling for beauty,
She wore it most every day,
With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple,
It sort of hums with its own beatific life,
Some were gifts from her husband Richard Burton
If they were good enough for Liz,
They’re good enough for me,
I will be there first in the queue! Christies sale, New York!
24/10/2016
For contest Sponsor Carolyn Devonshire
Categories:
richard burton, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Life is for many absolutely lifeless
so many struggles having to face
thoughts since birth always same
life seems all one long chase
One is born then one will die
in between it's all just basic routine
school, work, courtship, marriage
children, old age, what's it been?
Is all that amounts to life?
something more surely is there
life abundant can it be found?
oh God don't you even care?
Surely there's life found in God
reality in truth with capital L
bow before the Lord in humility
there be made spiritual well
This is God of abundant love
merciful, faithful, full of grace
follow the Lord who has risen
this is life living in God's place
('you will die without ever being alive' - Richard Burton (1925-1984)
Just some thoughts after reading this quote on life and what it would mean to me.)
Categories:
richard burton, death, god, life,
Form: Rhyme
The Poetry Reading a Sonnet
We stayed at a small hotel only brick throw away from one
of Paris’s famous hotel where British MP’s let themselves
be bribed just to stay there for a weekend with a cohort.
I was to read poetry and naturally petrified of the thought
of reading in public, but with the help of whisky was able to
perform, use a Richard Burton voice, with Norwegian accent.
Poetry is a lonely craft and when poets meet much alcohol is
consumed and for once we feel it is our work is worthwhile.
My wife was not there she was visiting her family, rich people
who lived in the heart of Paris, rue Salazar, and I had to find
my own way back to the hotel and promptly fell and I woke
Up in the hospital. Two days I was kept there, my wife came
but not her family it appears my dislike of Israel and Zionism
has hit a raw nerve, but they sent me a card with grapes on.
Categories:
richard burton, appreciation, assonance, blue, color,
Form: Sonnet
He was of humble birth no 12 of 13 children
In a small place called pontyrhydyfen *
He had a voice you could listen too
Never mind watch him on screen
His love life was a well known fact
Marrying one a few times for sure
Elizabeth was his true love
But together it was war.
Had many roles as a star
The ones that I prefer
Were his classical roles
Where his rich accent you could hear.
His reading of Dylan Thomas
Could make a grown man cry
Under Milk wood was a joy
Browns Hotel the place to try
His last resting place is not in his homeland
It is in Geneva Switzerland
I don't think he wanted his last place
To be a shrine for all movie fans.
Born a poor soul, gained wealth though his ability
to use his talents fully, his voice and his face, especially
His widow Sally said his body is in Geneva
His heart was forever in Wales
*pronounced. Pont reader ven,
Richard Burton.
penned 20 June 2013
Categories:
richard burton, celebrity,
Form: Rhyme
The End Stool
Always askew
As if occupants left quickly
Such is the life of the bar’s end stool
We’ve all noticed its isolation
Its paradoxical value as an observation point
The lighthouse warnings
Stay away from the rocks
Yes
End stools are special
Reserved for the aloof
Yet
Wanting the “more” of life
Like we who occupy the center
Will never know
End stool has a story
Ancient as Christopher Marlowe
Recent as Oliver Reed, Richard Burton, and Peter O’Toole
Contemporary as Bukowski
Think aloneness is desired?
Think not
Oneness without connection to another something is…
Such is the sadness of lives ended
Atop the End Stool
Categories:
richard burton, loneliness,
Form: Free verse
Hollywood couples in their own dramatic way
Are like characters in a Shakespearean play
To be or not to be
That was the question you see
When they first met on the set of the "Anthony and Cleopatra" movie
But it was double double toil and trouble
When their romance began to bubble
She was a beautiful and glamorous star
Admired by fans from near and far
But their relationship was like a war
Leaving them wounded,with emotional scars
He loved his women and his booze
Painkillers is what she liked to use
They both seemed to have the blues
They would have nasty breakups
Then he would buy her million dollar diamonds to make up
Though his love for her was deep
She was not his to keep
They got married , then divorced
Then they remarried, of course
that one ended too, just like the first
He played many parts in his career in showbiz
But the best part he ever had was being married to Liz
~~
Richard Burton And Elizabeth Taylor
Categories:
richard burton, people,
Form: Rhyme
Elizabeth Taylor known as "Liz'
Her acting skills and violet eyes make her a star in show biz
Jewelry was her passion, but her simple kindness was the jewel that made her shine
Married eight times (to Richard twice), no man captivated by her it seems could decline.
Richard Walter Jenkins aka Richard Burton
One of the best actors in his time with Welch good looks that was certain
A notoriously heavy drinker and smoker caused him to die fairly young
Married five times (to Liz twice), diaries of their personal life have recently been sprung.
*Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had two volatile marriages to each other.
Even though they had love and passion it's a prime example of how keeping a marriage together requires more than loving someone.
For PD's Clerihew days, are back........ Poetry Contest
Categories:
richard burton, life,
Form: Clerihew
a popsicle
a
moment
on
the
beach
we
never
had
Richard Burton
the iguana
Puerto Vallarta
we
never
had
a
drink
sitting
on the king and I
purple faced
dream
island
mime
retreat
a moment of calm,
………..meditating
ok
Categories:
richard burton, allegory
Form: Free verse
The chorus, a cacophony,
as gulls exploded
from the mudflats, on the estuary,
sleet, brain-numbing,
pelted a grey curtain;
with hands thrust deep, pocket jammed,
I felt like Richard Burton,
selling his soul to Hollywood,
not quite the same, though,
when all I sell is death
in Deadwood.
Here come my gulls, scavengers,
teenage patrons ever eager
as bad news messengers,
heads, sloth riddled beneath
baseball caps reversed,
their words, a streetwise patois
fluffed and stammered
badly rehearsed
but I always sense the gist.
There’s no excuse for me,
sedating kids,
passing bags of snow,
blank eyes fixed on the sea;
for all my delusions
cliché’s of market forces
customers, supply and demand
their snorting horses
once were wooden and rocked
not so long ago.
Within me deep
I know what I am,
no, I have no grand illusions,
I know I’m not the man,
not the myth from songs by
The Stones or the Underground,
just a bigger gull feeding
on the little gulls.
I’m no pharmaceutical saviour
in this seaside slum;
the man? I’m not a man
I’m just
scum.
Categories:
richard burton, life, social, drug,
Form: Free verse