Stand up and say
What you must say.
You have your voice
Please don’t delay.
The Sun Dial
The transcendentalist mind
Knows God through nature
And sees what most won’t see
His masterwork, our planet Earth.
1815
modern man —
a ruler both metric
and precise:
was it the weather
that cracked your
image or was it
yourself just
keeping face ?
Question
What precise imperfection
Can we devise
To guide society’s division
And propagate lies ?
An Introduction
Without even realizing it was happening, here I am, a contributor. One should really be careful what you say to James Burns, it usually results in action. I am not of a deep intellectual bent. I am simple and pragmatic. My perceptions are shaped by seeking others and trying to connect to their experience. Empathy. It’s a powerful driving force. It makes change in the world.
So in keeping with the others, my poetic introduction.
Anger of my father
Fears of my mother
Smoke and grime
Of the blue collar city
Prejudice and arrogance
Of proud mountains
Irish blarney
German practicality
Child of poverty
Companion of shame
Woman who grudgingly
Bears their name
Third generation
First with education
Genetically primed
For addiction
Forged in the crucible
Of my parents contempt
Reaping the fruits
They would resent
Washing away
Their history
In faith
Writing
My own story