Dinosaur Bones

Michael Burke

Description

Dinosaur Bones collects poems written by Michael Burke over his career as an acclaimed visual artist. Many of these poems tell a story. “I Made A List” travels from Mabel’s breast to a 10,000-foot-high observatory In Hawaii, to the deepest point in the ocean. A love poem begins on Ninth Avenue and ends in a St. Petersburg concert hall during the summer solstice. Others can be light-hearted and humorous, such as “Caterpillars Don’t Write Poems,” “Beetles Beware,” and “Sex Is Silly.” Others are profoundly speculative. Burke’s background as an astronomer often comes into play with poems that link everyday thoughts with Einstein’s theories or quantum mechanics. Burke says of his poems, “I draw landscapes, vanishing points shift, consistent with the probabilities that remain of our once precise science.” Dinosaur Bones invites readers to share the trials, successes, and humor of a widely varied life. The collection is illustrated with Burke’s own drawings.

Informations

• Publié par: Parlor Press, LLC
• Date de parution: 18 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781643171883
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

DINOSAUR BONES POEMS

Michael Burke

Dinosaur Bones

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by the same author

Swan Dive

Music of the Spheres

Out of Mind

DINOSAUR BONES

Poems

Michael Burke

Parlor Press Anderson, South Carolina www.parlorpress.com iii

Parlor Press LLC, Anderson, SoutH Carolîna, 29621

© 2021 by Parlor Press All rîgHts reserved. Prînted în tHe Unîted States of Amerîca S A N: 2 5 4 - 8 8 7 9

Lîbrary of Congress Catalogîng-în-Publîcatîon Data on Fîle

Names: Burke, MîcHael, 1939- autHor. Tîtle: Dînosaur bones : poems / MîcHael Burke. Descrîptîon: Anderson, SoutH Carolîna : Parlor Press, [2021] | Summary: “Dînosaur Bones collects poems wrîtten by MîcHael Burke over Hîs career as an acclaîmed vîsual artîst. ”-- Provîded by publîsHer. Identîiers: LCCN 2020046501 (prînt) | LCCN 2020046502 (ebook) | ISBN 9781643171876 (paperback ; acîd-free paper) | ISBN 9781643171883 (pdf ) | ISBN 9781643171890 (epub) Subjects: LCGFT: Poetry. Classîicatîon: LCC PS3602.U75525 D56 2021 (prînt) | LCC PS3602. U75525 (ebook) | DDC 811/.6--dc23 LC record avaîlable at Https://lccn.loc.gov/2020046501 LC ebook record avaîlable at Https://lccn.loc.gov/2020046502

978-1-64317-187-6 (paperback) 978-1-64317-188-3 (PDF) 978-1-64317-189-0 (ePub)

2 3 4 5

Book desîgn by Davîd Blakesley. All îllustratîons tHrougHout tHîs book were created by MîcHael Burke. Cover art by MîcHael Burke. Prînted on acîd-free paper.

Parlor Press, LLC îs an îndependent publîsHer of scHolarly and trade tîtles în prînt and multîmedîa formats. hîs book îs avaîlable în paperback and ebook formats from Parlor Press on tHe World Wîde Web at Http://www.parlorpress. com or tHrougH onlîne and brîck-and-mortar bookstores. For submîssîon înformatîon or to ind out about Parlor Press publîcatîons, wrîte to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drîve, Anderson, SoutH Carolîna, 29621, or emaîl edî[e-mail].

for Julie, Shannon and Brendan

Contents

Preface

Caterpillars Don’t Write Poems Words The Music of the Spheres Perspective The New Year Beetles Beware I Made a List Mysterious Stuff Three Views of Anonymity Dinosaur Bones Polar - Bipolar

The Martini Triptych 1. I Know I’m Getting Older, Because 2. Drinking Alone 3. I Have a Question

Observers Probabilities THE Old Piano Reliquaries (and precision) Sex Is Silly Dark Matter The Planetarium Poem for Albert Einstein Chiaro-Scuro Driving To Florida The Wristwatch The Orrery A Thunderstorm in the Country Left Hemisphere Picture Frame Age Can Be Beautiful Death Is An Alarm Clock Vanishing Points Meditations on a Drawing The Bridge Thank You

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3 4 6 8 11 13 14 17 19 21 24

27 28 29

31 32 33 34 35 36 38 40 41 42 44 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 55 58 60

Sonnets Tis Will You Think I Wrote Just One Corporate Tasks Cruel Words Sly Trickster The Spice Of Life The Dentist’s Chair The Big Commission Price Upon Request On Net Sonnet Chaos Theory Neutrino Catcher Pufferfish Doggerel Sonnet

Poems for the Summer Solstice A Moving Shadow The Exact Time It’s Raining On The Solstice Stunted Oak The Tar-Pit Machine Poem for the Pandemic

Acknowledgments About the Author

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63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76

79 80 81 82 83 85

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Preface

Poems I have written over many years. From long to short, serious to light- hearted, literal to abstract. They were inspired by past loves, past losses, fan- tasies, hopes and strange fears. From times I hope you will recall, to experi- ences that I feel are solely mine. It is troubling though that in the last year the world has been turned up- side down – by a virus that moves with incredible speed and by important issues that have occurred for too many years before being taken seriously, Black Lives Matter. I hope you can read the poems and feel emotions you have experi- enced, even though you are bombarded by our ever-changing present. I’ve tried writing poems that reflect the present, and have found it impossible. I’ve tried to shrink the distance between then and now, with the hope that it engages the thoughts of the present and hope for the future.

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