When I was a girl in a poor family
we hung our clothes to dry on the povertyline,
and with it I jumped rope.
My friends saw and joined me.
We were hoping to learn to jump over
endless obstacles and walls...
Our poverty line was generous and plentiful,
it ran from house to house like telephone wiring
made of rich gossip.
......
Is there for honesty poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave - we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
What though on hamely fare we dine,
......
Before I loved you, love, nothing was my own:
I wavered through the streets, among
Objects:
Nothing mattered or had a name:
The world was made of air, which waited.
I knew rooms full of ashes,
Tunnels where the moon lived,
Rough warehouses that growled 'get lost',
Questions that insisted in the sand.
......
A man up in years
Hunched over as he
Walked along the street
On this chilly December day
Zipping up his hoodie as
He approached the rotary
On the median stood
Another old man in shabby
Clothes covered with an
Equally shabby Santa Claus suit
......
While I make rhymes my brother John
Makes shiny shoes which dames try on,
And finding to their fit and stance
They buy and wear with elegance;
But mine is quite another tale,--
For song there is no sale.
My brother Tom a tailor shop
Is owner of, and ladies stop
To try the models he has planned,
......
A man up in years
Hunched over as he
Walked along the street
On this chilly December day
Zipping up his hoodie as
He approached the rotary
On the median stood
Another old man in shabby
Clothes covered with an
Equally shabby Santa Claus suit
......
These are poems about the homeless, homelessness, victims of war, and similar themes.
Homeless Us
by Michael R. Burch
The coldest night I ever knew
the wind out of the arctic blew
long frigid blasts; and I was you.
......
Happy moments bloom
ever in full beauty,
like a delicate flower
wafting sweet fragrance
of pleasing felicity,
of cherished longings.
Some time later
they grow red and pale,
all fade and wither
as the leaves, dried
......
I was a minister of the gospel, very happily living my life for the Lord,
Preaching the Word every Sunday, in the spirit of affinity and accord.
I always knew that I would preach, for I had been called in my youth,
To perpetually serve the will of God, while forever speaking His truth.
Like the lush gardens of springtime, are all abloom with fresh purpose,
Spreading joy with their presence, in a gold, green ritual that is ageless.
I lived an exceedingly busy life, doing work that was dear to my heart,
......
IT'S ABOUT TIME
Let us talk to the birds visiting us in summer,
Let us talk to the afternoon shadow,
Let us raise our pets to our level,
Let us raise our decibels...
It's about time.
Let us talk to the palarysing heat in the air,
Let us pick our items from the rubbish heap,
......