Salamander Poems

Lament to the Spirit of War
by Enheduanna (circa 2285-2250 BCE)
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy the land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like tempests,
thundering, raging, ranting, drumming,
whiplashing whirlwinds!

Men...Read More

Blackness occupied blackness.
Like it was the world.
Yet there was more.

A chink of light.
As bright as creation.
It grew till it had form.
A line that grew into a rectangle.
Bright as life.

Bigger and bigger till things could be seen.
Banished blackness.
Replaced by light.
Daylight.

The opening...Read More

An ancient salamander
swam the ocean deep,
scarlet toes,
upon his feet.

Frilly gills were,
floating free;
down into the brine’s
darkest keep.

Stiff finned ridges 
upon his back
helped him keep
away attacks.

Undulated through 
the waters black,
he was the last one 
living of his pack.

Salamander’s getting old;
ancient amphibian with...Read More

The Temple Hymns of Enheduanna
translations by Michael R. Burch

Enheduanna, the daughter of the famous King Saragon the Great of Akkad, is the first ancient writer whose name remains known to us today. She appears to be the first named poet...Read More

Mine is so big, I have to use two hands
Now it's obvious where your naughty mind stands
Was talking about a salamander
Strange how the mind wanders
Actually, it was so big at the doorway it got jammed




...Read More

What they like are simple things –
The driveway pebbles tossed
Or climbing rocks and jumping down
Or playground bridges crossed.

A supermarket outing
To select their favorite snacks
And markers, paints and paper
When it’s time to just relax.

A sticker book or mazes
Or a pad with...Read More

One night, the silver fox, came to me and beckoned me to follow.  Red salamander, by his side, advised me to go quickly; lest we lose the moonlight.  Within the nearby wood, an ancient tree we found, a...Read More

Variations On A Theme...
Ach'n (ache Ken) Existential Struggle...

(NOT by Bellini, Paganini, Rossini...
Eeny Meany Miney Moe - si,
nor the three stooges tee hee hee)

twill never end till...this oft writ trend
of mine will never end,
only when...mortality
ike'n no longer defend!

Thus...once again, (or...as per...Read More

Abandon through the flowing blue ice streams, 
          then rise to thirsty trees and fields of dreams. 

Abandon in the beige fields of Indian red autumn, 
    ...Read More

I had just finished reading about 
The Chinese Giant Salamander
About how they are almost extinct
I must say something in all candor

I may just need a little fiber but
It's hard for me, myself to console 
I feel forlorn because I'm afraid
I...Read More

Last night I dreamed I was weeding my vegetable garden in the Drive-in theater, while people wandered back and forth from snack bar to their cars.

While pulling weeds, I saw a banana slug and was about to squish it when...Read More

every March seventeenth, the glint froom
a perverted imp finds me achin'
and if aye dig deep enough,
this Goyish pseudo judo day yo criss chin

can figuratively unearth a puckish
   (gnome like) elfish sprite 
   with a layer ring...Read More

SOULS LIKEN GRAINS OF SAND

A speck of sand;
A robin red bird;
A blue boy and a pink girl;
One of the ones;
I am the only;

Pepper and salt;
Salamander and trout;
Sugar spices everything rises;
A star in heaven;
Angels delight;

In a soul brought into light;
A speck...Read More

Salamander
Eating samples
of steak
Standing tall
While the owl on the branches chewing grapes
coffee mongrel shopping pit bull
dancing straight
Standing tall

Always wondered whose on first base
television my religion
has nothing to do with your hate
must be plastic because you're so dramatic
I can't relate
Standing tall

something bothering...Read More

I saw the raven night withdrawn
as scarlet of a peacock dawn 
arose atop the crested east
and as the bleeding scape increased
one feral star I wished upon.

I prayed for summer fire to yawn
across my salamander lawn--
lay low the winter's ice-fanged beast.

But...Read More

Salamander dance
Do your Holy dance
Let your praise and the promise
Be your only chance
Predestinate your glance
Look on to the King
Whose mine and yours you sing
Tho, all dogs go to heaven
Even little boys and girls
Judge not be judged by man or bores
Be...Read More

Atop rock in pond
Encircled by a fire storm,
Salamander sits unscathed

Eagle deviates
From an evening of hunting 
To witness the God of Fire
 
For the “Form S” Contest
Sponsored by:  Broken Wings


7/15/2017
...Read More

We used to wait outside 
at the girls rooming house
by the Ohio in Cincinnati

Sex does not self heal
Nor does the salamander  
we trapped under the moss

We always said
We'd die together
At daybreak
We knew better

Love does not always
fill the heart
On rainy...Read More

White cotton balled Q-tips;
Orangey yellowed fuzzy basketballs;
Purple covered lemon balls, lemon heads;
Melted down into the carpet;
Once a highway in the skies;
Home is where the heart is now;
Wrong-way Jones is left way out;
Salamander Samuel eating raw trout;
Carpet stained by Shout;
Pre-teen agers...Read More

Spring is in its prime again
each leaf beautiful
much is edible
birds and peepers are musical at dawn.

The days walk slowly
toward Utah and Italy.
My left nut hurts.
Joy overwrites death.

Well, well. You're well
alone in your brain
only a negligible fraction
escaping as words and actions.

Every...Read More

Give me another chance to sip life
I am waiting impatiently for someone
to shout silently tickling joy of life
in the eardrum of my imaginations
so as to become alive as rabbit

I want to feel young like twice born and 
Proud like a...Read More

There's a party down at the marsh,
amongst all the wild amphibians,
Theresa toad croaking alongside her tadpoles,
all one thousand and one of them,

Carla the crayfish catering all the food,
all of the partygoers in a festive mood,
the dragonflies doing their aerial light...Read More

Some folks will be down in the dumps 
Hillary lost … Donald came up trumps
Britain made their exit
They voted for Brexit
I have a question …are we all chumps?

JAN ALLISON

11~09~16


I think we're all sick of the status quo
They get rich and...Read More

 
...inspired by 'The Salamander' by C.S. Lewis
 
 
The sun bore down with blinding rays,
the oceans boiled and came to nought,
it was withal the end of days
with every living creature caught,
when from the rocks, agile, adept,
a tiny lizard meekly...Read More

I’d hoped some salamanders
Would be crawling on the road,
For a downpour in the country
Makes them exit their abode.

But I haven’t seen them lately
And I looked with every tread.
What I noticed, though, were lots and lots
Of slimy slugs instead.

Like the worms...Read More