Silver Poems

Postcard 1
by Miklós Radnóti
written August 30, 1944
translated by Michael R. Burch
 
Out of Bulgaria, the great wild roar of the artillery thunders,
resounds on the mountain ridges, rebounds, then ebbs into silence
while here men, beasts, wagons and imagination all steadily increase;
the...Read More

Dawn of spring,
Birds on green trees
Gardens are blooming
Smiles and babies;

Noon of summer,
Sunshine in blue skies
Brides are smiling  
Love and ceremonies;

Sunset of autumn,
Painters near the sea
Colors are falling
Silver and memories;

Night of winter,
Darkness in the city
Smoke is rising 
Tears and stories.
...Read More

I Live by the Sword
Silver steams off the sword with sanctuary 
Reflecting elegant light…the mirror of the world 
Promises and power to protect loved ones
Gleaming with glossy glory of those who survive 


II Die by the Sword 
Bloody battles began...Read More

My harmonica cries, 
in tones of silver sighs and golden tears; 
wailing bittersweet joy.

Sound of sadness; sound of laughter; 
it’s in the wailing that color blooms.  
Mouth-harp memories fill many family albums.

Circle of breath, circle of life; 
winding in...Read More

I fill my head
With
Heavenly
Daydreams
Warmth
In this
Cold berth
Don't
Wanna
Wake up
The giggle
Of a lil elf
Sounds of
Silver bells
Tickling my ear
Bathing in
The toasty
Cozy
Of the fireplace
Dancing flames
Stay with me
Don't leave
Mellow
Chocolatey goodness
In
The middle of a 
Brisky
Crystalline
Winter wonderland
Sipping the gorgeous
Decadence
Gazing into
A
Ravishing
Space
Not filled with
Blankness
A beautiful
Blankness
With you
In it...Read More

See them Iscariot eyes silver surfing,
filthy lucre foam
	is left in their wake

You best be watching them,
when they’re evil eyeballing you

Dirty money laundry days a-rising, 
grifter ink gloam ...
	palms on the last take

Grimy worst, the dullest dim,
are midnight indigo  ...Read More

     Eternal battle between
     blackout and light ...
     Dark, reason ...
     Ignorance and knowing ...
     Never, nothing, always.
  ...Read More

delicate gauzy organza sheers
window dressing dancing in the bedroom
blown gently by forced air heat
piped in by silver register on floor
moving softly in a sensuous way
erotic dance of cosmic feelings
my wide awake eyes 
overwhelmed by imagination
conjures up a dancing ghost
...Read More

A Richardson’s owl came by today
He wanted to hoot. I wanted to play.
We did not agree in any way.
I fed him crackers on a silver tray.

He gobbled them up, was on his way.
I glimpsed him fly across the bay.
He never...Read More

The Stake
by Michael R. Burch

Love, the heart bets,
if not without regrets,
will still prove, in the end,
worth the light we expend
mining the dark
for an exquisite heart.

Originally published by The Lyric...Read More

Out of the cold,
in blew the rain
After a kiss goodbye,
the lonely teardrops came
a-falling ... falling

Another frozen tv dinner date,
and a RomCom 
bittersweet, cable treat awaits

Enchantress on the silver screen
is beckoning,
pillow softly, 
in your moonlight glow dreams

Seems all vow hope
has fallen...Read More

The Cane

Not made of candy, but real wood. 
It belonged to my father’s father, 
and his father, before him. 

No, they were all good man. 
all equally healthy and mostly happy. 
The one thing they all had, 
that was shared…...Read More

That evening
we took a flat-bottomed boat
and swam it up the Thames.
Douglas the middle-aged queer
served martinis out of a crystal pitcher.
Lurching for lips, he kissed me.
I was surprised how sweet it felt.
Jenny in a canvas chair, pale legs crossed,
water-trailing sensitive fingers.
I...Read More

I would ride a rhinoceros for you
ride it to Timbuctoo
and bring you back
all the golden sand of the desert in a bottle

I would overcome an octopus for you
dive it to deepest Atlantis
gathering up
pearls, sapphires, coral and rubies in a shell

I...Read More

This is a clear bell morning;
Sunday bright and Sunday best
Gold as a windows light through the stained glass streaming.

This is a cool stone morning;
Sunday Calm and Sunday rest;
Blue as a peacock's tail with a sun's eye shining.

This is a bright...Read More

What Party Are You?

Huh?
Does it matter?
Who I voted for? 
I am alive, 
so it was legal. 
I have not been dead, 
for thirty years. 
Surely that is enough. 

If I tell you this or that, 
you will condemn me
for the...Read More

Gone were silver tinseled trees
                            reflecting smiling faces
on snowy Christmas Eves
  ...Read More

Come to me and received loving gains,
Come forward and you shall be favoured,
Come now and don’t delay for happiness reigns,
Because come rain or shine our love is savoured;
Celebrate your love with me and remove painful chains,
Come on don’t hesitate my...Read More

silly sequoia slumbering
meager mists mooing
callous clouds clustering
voluptuous vibes vying
tempted twigs twiddling
salient sleep swilling

spooky silver silhouette
pulling pulpy pests
contracting cautious crrsts

lousy clouds lurching
gaunt glottis grooving
gigantesque syllables dripping

mystic mountain moaning;
sleep's spell swigging.
       19:12:05:08:17...Read More

Silent flurries flutter down. My nose cold, cheeks warm. Whiteness gathers, explores, dusting sidewalks and my Christmas sweater. Cold angels in the snow, children giggle, flap their wings. Powdery-snow rolled into small, medium and large — a snowgent with smiling...Read More

By invitation from a trusted friend, 
a medium intervention took place and I went.
The building set in the thick forest by a shimmering lake,
some broken sheds looking sad and strange to take.
Weeded and worn the manor house thatch,
a frail welcome...Read More

Not all the poems I read entice me,
hold my attention long, reach my heart.
The ones that flow like sparkling streams
over the cascades of rhythm, I adore most.

The current of words carries me floating away
from the cacophony of banal whirlpool of...Read More

On the fourth day I am crystal clear.
I step lightly.
I am an arctic god.
I slur no being, crack no shells.
I am vodka and ice in a quartz prism.

Day four is translucent,
a star-black taxi ride into daylight.
Glittering talk spills from my...Read More

Some wear hope 
On a rope
made of cotton strand
Emotional severed from bias
Who am I to cry out"Hey Man"

Some wear hope on a rope made 
of silver spawn
A cord that's cut 
Before the dawn

Where is my purple robe
Why? must I cover
Up
This...Read More

Where you think music stills,
There's music still
When the moon, nesting in the high grass
When that moon's passed
There's silver on the hill

What you think knowledge fills,
Know, it never will
But why do you say that love shall pass?
To love is to last
Forever...Read More