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).​​

Humanity is steadily going downhill

​Look at the costs of the military and law enforcement,
They are astronomical,
Yet, people say how good everyone is,
Are they kidding me?
Humanity is steadily going downhill,
It is horrible to say,
But a clear reality,
COVID-19 has taken over humanity,
You can't do this, you can't do that,
The face mask is a requirement everywhere,
Why do people bother in procreating?
Having to raise children in this world,
It is messed in so many ways,
Believe what you want here,
This is how I feel,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
May a new day arise with optimism on the horizon.

There is no such thing as a truly nice person
​

​Nice people are a rare breed,
If they exist at all anymore,
You hear this a lot,
He is the nicest guy I know,
The definition of nice has many interpretations,
Look at this logically,
When the government spends $2.5 trillion on the military,
In my opinion, there are no more nice people,
People are not wired to be good,
Think about it,
Look at the person with the most friends or acquaintances,
He is the guy who is popular with a bit of bad boy streak in him,
I can go on and on,
Nice people are more or less okay,
Meaning, they are few and far between,
You can believe what you want here,
I hear this as well,
He or she is religious, they must be nice,
Religion is a form of mental control,
Being good is something we are or aren't,
Believe what you want here,
It is up to you,
For now, try to be good and not cause trouble,
For goodness outweighs religion every step of the way.

Our world needs health care, not another air show
​

​Tax payer money going toward an air show,
In the military,
Yet, universal healthcare is ignored,
Nobody asks to be born,
Yet, air shows happen all of the time,
I am not a fan of the military or law enforcement,
I am a fan of healthcare,
People are brought into this world,
Yet, healthcare costs rise,
The military is now costing $2.5 trillion,
That is an awful lot of money,
Then they have their air shows,
There are other ways to be entertained,
Tax payer money is going toward this,
Believe what you want here,
I am not a fan of the military or law enforcement,
In our sad world, they are needed greatly,
Humans will continue to evolve, thanks to evolution,
The planet itself evolves because of the Big Bang,
Natural disasters exist because of meteorology,
All science,
Take care and be good,
This is all you can and hope for as time carries forward.

Flooding or other natural disasters in the news

​I don't mean to go on a rant here,
But do you ever notice something?
Whenever there is a flood,
Or other horrible natural disasters,
Only regular people are shown on the news,
You never see a doctor canoeing down a street,
When there is a flood,
Or even a lawyer or pro athlete,
Just regular folks,
It is some guy with a few teeth missing,
He is always the one who gets the short end of the stick,
The news is funny this way,
Elitist people never get in the news,
Only if good things happen to them,
Believe what you want here,
But this is the kind of concepts I have noticed,
This happens a lot on the news,
For now, take care and be safe,
Don't cause trouble,
And may a better day arise for you as time carries forward,
Again, many times over, carpe diem.