{"id":606,"date":"2018-12-17T02:08:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T02:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/?p=606"},"modified":"2018-12-26T23:56:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-26T23:56:03","slug":"poetry-by-randal-a-burd-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/2018\/12\/17\/poetry-by-randal-a-burd-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry by Randal A. Burd, Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"
Randal A. Burd, Jr. is an educator, freelance editor, writer, and poet. His freelance writing includes assignments on the paid writing team for Ancestry.com<\/a> and multiple online blogs, newsletters, and publications.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Randal received his Master’s Degree in English Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Missouri. He currently works on the site of a residential treatment facility for juveniles in rural Missouri. He lives in southeast Missouri with his wife and two children.<\/em><\/h6>\n

What Makes Me Happy<\/h3>\n

Their eyes stare back into my own,
\nFamiliar features long I’ve known,
\nJust lately to appreciate
\nThe life bestowed on them by fate
\nPlus circumstances mine alone.<\/p>\n

Idyllic aspirations blown
\nWith every disappointment–prone
\nTo fall far short or much too late.
\nTheir eyes stare back.<\/p>\n

Looking back on how they’ve grown
\nStrong saplings from the seeds I’ve sown
\nAs opportunities abate
\nI pray my love will resonate.
\nMost precious gifts I helped create–
\nTheir eyes stare back.<\/p>\n

Depression\u2019s Lies<\/h3>\n

“Depression brings humility.”
\nHer glaring inability?
\nConstructively self-criticize.
\nFor criticizing amplifies
\nThe flaws that only she can see.<\/p>\n

Suppressing sensitivity
\nTo camouflage fragility,
\nShe flirts with failure if she tries.
\n“Depression brings humility.”<\/p>\n

Confronting fallibility,
\nBetrays innate servility,
\nIf only she could realize
\nA way to stop believing lies;
\nRepeating in her mind, she cries:
\n“Depression brings humility.”<\/p>\n

Ignorance in Love<\/h3>\n

We’re innocent–how one small gesture can
\nDefine relationships and change life\u2019s course.
\nWe charge ahead, choose risk, and dare remorse
\nTo end our romance right where it began.
\nImagine circumvention as a plan:
\nPrecluding fights and failures and divorce;
\nBy ending bad engagements at the source,
\nWe could improve the happiness of man!<\/p>\n

But life is not all joys devoid of pain.
\nWho can predict each outcome of a kiss?
\nWhat moments cherished would be lost with this?
\nContingencies are hard to ascertain
\nAs are which moments we will reminisce.
\nOur ignorance in love is truly bliss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Randal A. Burd, Jr. is an educator, freelance editor, writer, and poet. His freelance writing includes assignments on the paid writing team for Ancestry.com and multiple online blogs, newsletters, and publications. Randal received his Master’s Degree in English Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Missouri. He currently works on the site of a residential … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa867U-9M","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}