July 2019
I am a married father of two and an educator working on the site of a residential treatment facility for juveniles in rural Missouri. I have a Master's Degree in English Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Missouri and a self-sabotaging compulsion to write poetry that rhymes. My poems have recently been featured by Halftime Magazine, The Society of Classical Poets, and Rue Scribe, among other publications.
Prematurely Blessed
I watched her come too fast into this world.
I heard those faint unhealthy infant cries.
And as they checked her length and weight and size,
Her little fingers 'round my finger curled.
Untimely from her mother's womb was hurled
Our premature and sickly sacred prize
Who, we would later come to realize,
Became the star 'round which our planet whirled.
Her sickliness received intensive care;
Pneumonia left her lungs and let her thrive--
So lucky and so blessed to be alive!
Our lives were changed forever then and there.
And ever since our daughter did arrive,
There's never been a day that could compare.
first published in Rue Scribe
Ignorance in Love
We're innocent--how one small gesture can
Define relationships and change life’s course.
We charge ahead, choose risk, and dare remorse
To end our romance right where it began.
Imagine circumvention as a plan:
Precluding fights and failures and divorce;
By ending bad engagements at the source,
We could improve the happiness of man!
But life is not all joys devoid of pain.
Who can predict each outcome of a kiss?
What moments cherished would be lost with this?
Contingencies are hard to ascertain
As are which moments we will reminisce.
Our ignorance in love is truly bliss.
first published in Rue Scribe
Reflection
I watched him slowly growing old and frail
But still he passed before I was prepared--
A dreadful fight in which few men prevail
Approached with peace where others have despaired.
I often try in vain to recollect
The many times he spoke my name with pride,
Occasionally pausing to reflect
On memories less stark than when he died.
Now when I stare into a looking glass,
I see his features blended in my own
And shed a tear despite the years that pass--
A kinder, wiser man I’ve never known.
I only hope when someone measures me,
I’m half the man he showed me how to be.
first published in Vita Brevis
Prematurely Blessed
I watched her come too fast into this world.
I heard those faint unhealthy infant cries.
And as they checked her length and weight and size,
Her little fingers 'round my finger curled.
Untimely from her mother's womb was hurled
Our premature and sickly sacred prize
Who, we would later come to realize,
Became the star 'round which our planet whirled.
Her sickliness received intensive care;
Pneumonia left her lungs and let her thrive--
So lucky and so blessed to be alive!
Our lives were changed forever then and there.
And ever since our daughter did arrive,
There's never been a day that could compare.
first published in Rue Scribe
Ignorance in Love
We're innocent--how one small gesture can
Define relationships and change life’s course.
We charge ahead, choose risk, and dare remorse
To end our romance right where it began.
Imagine circumvention as a plan:
Precluding fights and failures and divorce;
By ending bad engagements at the source,
We could improve the happiness of man!
But life is not all joys devoid of pain.
Who can predict each outcome of a kiss?
What moments cherished would be lost with this?
Contingencies are hard to ascertain
As are which moments we will reminisce.
Our ignorance in love is truly bliss.
first published in Rue Scribe
Reflection
I watched him slowly growing old and frail
But still he passed before I was prepared--
A dreadful fight in which few men prevail
Approached with peace where others have despaired.
I often try in vain to recollect
The many times he spoke my name with pride,
Occasionally pausing to reflect
On memories less stark than when he died.
Now when I stare into a looking glass,
I see his features blended in my own
And shed a tear despite the years that pass--
A kinder, wiser man I’ve never known.
I only hope when someone measures me,
I’m half the man he showed me how to be.
first published in Vita Brevis
© 2019 Randal A. Burd, Jr.
Editor's Note: Please send (only positive) comments to the author (see email address in above). Correspondence is the beginning of community in our virtual village. It is very important. --FF