Poems
So, I've mentioned before that I have two published poems. One in the 2005 issue of The Salal Review ("Circle") and one in the 2007 issue of The Salal Review ("Sailor's Lament"). Both are published under the name K. L. Burch. Here they are.
"Circle"
I am standing on a mountain
near blue huckleberry
bushes, watching an eagle
rise above deep, river-bottomed
ravines and vast hills covered
in fir, pine, and spruce.
I am flying through the air,
my wings extended
to catch thermals that lift
me above whirling, white clouds
and sharp, craggy mountains
of limestone and granite.
I am raising an earth-bound creature
to cerulean heavens
as her unbound chi soars
on ethereal wings,
leaving behind her mortal frame
of blood, skin and bone.
"Sailor's Lament"
An icebreaker sailor
Whose sailing days are done,
A red-hull deckie
Who's made her last run,
I've been from Seattle to Sydney,
From Antarctica to Nome,
From Chukchi Sea to McMurdo,
And Cape Hallett back to home.
I've seen sunsets light fires in heaven,
Weathered storms when my stomach rebelled,
Watched the ocean mirror window glass,
And been staggered as she swelled.
But now those days are done for me,
I travel the seas no more.
Today I'm an icebreaker sailor
Stranded on the shore.