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RANDAL A. BURD, JR. - POEMS

4/12/2020

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Randal A. Burd, Jr. is a married father of two and an educator who works with the disadvantaged in rural Missouri. He holds a master’s degree in English Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Missouri. Randal is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Sparks of Calliope magazine. His latest collection of poems, Memoirs of a Witness Tree, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books in Summer 2020.

​What Makes Me Happy

Their eyes stare back into my own,
Familiar features long I've known,
Just lately to appreciate
The life bestowed on them by fate
Plus circumstances mine alone.
Idyllic aspirations blown
With every disappointment—prone
To fall far short or much too late.
Their eyes stare back.
Now looking back on how they've grown--
Strong saplings from the seeds I've sown--
As opportunities abate,
I pray my love will resonate.
Most precious gifts I helped create--
Their eyes stare back.

"What Makes Me Happy" first appeared in Rue Scribe 
​

Blue Spacious Skies

Blue spacious skies meet greener pastures’ hue,
Where sleepy woodland creatures rendezvous.
The fragrances of lilac and of fir
Are pungent in the air and would confer
A feeling of tranquility on you.
Your present rather dismal point of view
Is neither flexible nor even true.
You bring the rain; your outlook does defer
Blue spacious skies.
So part the curtains wide; let sunshine through.
Find shooting stars at night with someone new.
Our lives go by in such a hasty blur.
You’ll see things better than they ever were.
And cloudy days might suddenly incur
Blue spacious skies.


"Blue Spacious Skies" first published by The Society of Classical Poets 
​

On Better Days

On better days, the scented summer air
Would softly blow and gently tease my hair;
Few news events gave rise to much alarm;
We never felt we'd come to any harm;
The world had problems, but we didn't care.
But now we're told we always must prepare
For darker times ahead. The headlines scare
More than inform—incite more than disarm.


On better days,
My thoughts return more frequently to where
An optimistic child once played, and there
On summer days exploring grandpa's farm,
The future's possibilities had charm,
And we had positivity to spare...
On better days.


"On Better Days" first appeared in The Hypertexts

​

Backwoods Town

The tattered glovebox map did not reflect
The backwards nature of this backwoods town.
I moved here to belong, instead I found
Contempt, which I did not at all expect.
My ancestors once lived here long ago;
The paper said they were respected then.
But no one living can remember when
They saw them here or who they used to know.
I'm cousins with a lot of those I met,
Though it seems not to matter that I'm kin.
I still am from the outside looking in:
Politeness and cold smiles is all I get.
That is, they smile until I turn my back.
And that is when they plan their next attack.


"Backwoods Town" first appeared in The Writer's Cafe Magazine

​

Made in China

“Made in China” reads the label--
Shattered on the coffee table:
Some cheap and broken plastic toys
We purchased for our girls and boys--
Imports purchased which enable
Labor camps that leave unstable
Lives in ruin and can disable
Limbs...but disregard the noise
Made in China.
Are our children really stable?
We disservice and mislabel
All the little girls and boys
Who grow up with cheap plastic toys;
Sold our souls and bought a fable
Made in China?


"Made in China" first published by The Society of Classical Poets
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