Tired flames
Still burn, though they struggle
Tired flames, The wind is to come thy way
And fight you shall, to keep thy light

To the heavens one cries for mercy
Only to be met with rain
Tired flames
Struggle, struggle
They come for your light

Every Man Has a Dream
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Every man has a dream that he cannot quite touch...
a dream of contentment, of soft, starlit rain,
of a breeze in the evening that, rising again,
reminds him of something that cannot have been,
and he calls this dream love.

And each man has a dream that he fears to let live,
for he knows: to succumb is to throw away all.
So he curses, denies it and locks it within
the cells of his heart and he calls it a sin,
this madness, this love.

But each man in his living falls prey to his dreams,
and he struggles, but so he ensures that he falls,
and he finds in the end that he cannot deny
the hope that he feels or the tears that he cries
in the darkness of night for this light he calls love.

Keywords/Tags: Man, Dream, Love, Vision, Fantasy, Aspiration, Hope, Sin, Madness, Cell, Prison, Real, Reality, Touch, Tangible, Contentment, Comfort, Consolation, Prey, Trapped, Snared, Prisoner, Captive, Hope, Fears, Tears, Elusive, Elusiveness

Oysters they're out there - somewhere,
Everywhere,
as the oyster men slowly drift through the inlet.
Heaved by sail and oar;
sinews of sheets and sails stretched.

Driven by hope and anticipation
the patina of time etched in weatherbeaten faces;
Like a lure for life the longline stretches and dredges, expectant evermore.

Drifting from catch to catch where the ardent prosper;
Achieve and believe the addiction and alchemy of the aspirant,
"Dream big" of the world the unenviable oyster of youth,
Dictums of the desirous drifting from goal to goal,
and chore to chore.

Mantras of men mourning forgone missives of the masculine.
The dredges of disconnected men's minds to sea.
Destined for despair.

I’m sleeping
mud seeping
crawlies on
my chapel creeping

A sunk-in well
from where I fell
I’ll never go
and never tell

Real the ropes
Pack your smokes
Chew your verses
Swallow your jokes

This mutineer
Dares to steer
Lost not lost,
a-lone premier.

I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
My dad’s occupation isn’t cool
I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
So I work very hard at school
I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
My family struggles to survive
I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
I dream and strive towards a better life
I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
I dream of doctor, lawyer, even cooking food
I am a toilet cleaner’s daughter
I don’t want to be a cleaner too

To live life sat atop a plush throne,
You must release your inner pain.
Sweat fluidly and gather a flush tone-
No burdened toil shall fester in vane.

as the stars trickle down from the sky
they take the form of raindrops
every time they splatter down on me
i feel every shattered aspiration
in those little splashes of starbursts
i feel them stab into me demanding to be set free

crushing a dream
is like ripping the wings from a butterfly
and then asking it why it can not fly