KEITH BURKHOLDER - POEMS

​Keith Burkholder has been published in Creative Juices, Sol Magazine, Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Poetry Quarterly, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Birmingham Arts Journal.  He has a bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo (UB).​

If God cared about us, there would be no coronavirus
​

​I have heard this time and again,
I have found God,
There are people that have found Jesus,
Yet, the coronavirus is taking lives,
Too many lives,
God is not around,
The same goes for Jesus,
How do find something you can't see?
People misplace things,
Then they find them,
Like keys as an example,
Now there are grown adults,
Telling me that they have found humans that don't exist,
The coronavirus is deadly,
Hopefully, a cure is on the way,
Yet, Jesus and God are not to be found,
Believe what you want to believe,
Hopefully, in time things will get much better,
Planet Earth needs goodness,
Take care,
And may time pass with positivity on the horizon.

​The World at Large

​We live in a vast universe,
The universe with the human race,
The human race has too many faults,
Too many to list actually,
We need to learn to care for one another more,
We need to take care of ourselves better,
Human kindness is really limited in this world,
It is a dog eat dog world,
People need to think more about things in general,
Human life can be fragile,
It can also be too domineering in its ways,
I prefer my own company,
People can be really tiring to be around,
For the world at large will continue to grow,
As time possesses the population continues to grow,
Learn as you can,
For time is of the essence in our world,
And only time can allow us to learn and be more aware of the situations the world brings us,
Seize such opportunities,
Carpe diem.

​The Ghost of Paul Revere

​This could be fiction or a reality,
New England has a famous history about this gent,
Could his ghost still run rampant in New England?
History is interesting in this regard,
Many people study about Paul Revere in school,
His travels and his impact on the Revolutionary War,
Ghosts are hard to determine,
Whether they truly exist or not,
For his spirit will live on in New England,
His legacy in history, too,
Learn all you can about this person,
Whether on the internet or in books,
For time will continue on,
For his legacy will continue as well,
Take care and learn all you can,
This is what history is about,
For Paul Revere’s ride was historic,
Be open minded,
Let history open it and let learning continue on for as long as you live.
 
 

​An Echo in the Wind

A seafaring merchant,
On course to his destination,
Where will he go?
The winds pick up,
He hears an echo in the wind,
It is a calling from the heavens,
It is helping with his course of travel,
He gains confidence,
The winds slow down,
The echoing he hears begins to fade,
He gains full control of the ship,
His team gains strength,
They follow his orders,
Smooth sailing ahead,
There is a gleaming light in the distance,
The sun is shining,
Was it a call from the heavens?
Only this seafaring merchant knows,
The ship carries on,
Its voyage gains momentum,
A trip to last a lifetime,
A trip to never forget,
The heavens follow this ship,
Their communication continues on.
 ​

I am not a fan of the military or law enforcement

​We need this organizations,
Yet, the blame is on evolution,
God and Jesus are fictional characters,
Not realities,
Yet, human behavior is a reality,
Religion never talks about this,
Humans behave the way they do,
This is because we are derived from the primates,
This is a true reality,
Let's face it, look at all of the rules out there,
And then there is the military and law enforcement,
Rule, rules, rules,
Evolution is the reason for all of this,
This is the way it goes,
Believe what you want here,
There is no right or wrong answer,
Time will carry forward,
Things will get better or worse,
Take care for now,
Try to be good,
And again, carpe diem.

Imagine a perfect world

​This will never take place,
Imagine no military,
No law enforcement,
No segregation,
No discrimination,
No bullying,
No hate crimes,
The list is endless,
Imagine these things,
Even world peace,
It is great to fantasize,
But realistically we need the military
and law enforcement,
I am not a big fan of them,
But they are necessary,
Blame evolution for human involvement,
Humans do behave the way they do,
Nobody is perfect,
A person can be a perfectionist,
But not perfect,
Think about what I have said here,
A perfect world will never happen,
Take care for now,
Be good,
And again, carpe diem.