Karen Bookguilder is intended to be a collection of poems 60 poems expressly for the Book Guild
by Mike Burr - the themes being dictated by or about its published artisans .
Sick
the truth of winds may be felt though no wind blows
she thought
and farted slowly through her knickers
as if to make sick fun of the cleverness of the point
and that brief gust itself
was all that remained of her cheese stew
or maybe the previous days broad bean pancake
the vegetables and rennet that had given of their
small lives that she might exist a few days longer
she thought
and she wondered why
as she could think of no direct contribution
that she had made to the betterment of the planet
except that perhaps some artist may have
caught glimpse of her lively blue geraniums
or an ant from her garden wandered off and bitten
a future scientist causing momentary pain
where otherwise a discovery might have been made
that might enhance the evolution of man through technology
no she thought
not a single thing had she made or done
that would outlive her passing
even that finality event would not furnish much
as unlike the rich summer harvest of vegetables and fruit
or the wild roaming herd vast upon the plains
or the ancient tribal braid she wished to be heir to
staked out and consumed by bird and beast
no
she would be burnt and nothing would remain
except a few uncombined chemicals
and this epitaph to her illness