summer night
lit up by the flashlight
of a cracked cell phone
suburbia held her breath
sang to by the crickets
a walk to the gas station
holy city in the dead of night
my friend drank too much ***
he banged on the door
it was locked
the clerk seemed scared
he thought we were robbers.

The restaurant
We ate at
The last time I saw you

Is now closed

I didn’t know that would be the last time I would see you

I didn’t know that would be the last time I
would eat there

You looked into my eyes for the first time since I picked you up to say “this is the best garlic bread I have had in my entire life”

It took us 47 minutes to get there

It took us 61 minutes to get home

Because we sat in the parking lot of a gas station I’d only been to once before, but liked a lot

I haven’t been there since we were
Either

We listened to that song

Not the one you quoted at “lunch”

Not the one about what you want and don’t

The one that asks why

I took you back

To his house

I parked a block away

I cried

She said she needed fun
   and laughter
Baby I said what you need then
Is to pull into my Gas Station
Me! I'll give you a good servicing
I'll fill you up yea! give you a good
   fueling
I'll check your oil, all your gauges
Pump your tyres and clean your   windows
Give your bodywork a nice wipe  down
I'll even shine your bonnet

You're so shiny.

Hey, why can you hear and not see?
When the sun stopped by a locked window

If there was a choice in the way we could chant
To the way we strut on our feet.

If there were choices how we touch,
To beyond our dreams.

If there was a choice in the ways we meet,
And how we leave behind the people we greet.

She sees there is a choice in their actions,
intentionally, the way they react to 
over reactions.

There is a choice in the way we treat,
Important not to repeat in the 
Explosions which create disease and confusion

If there was a choice in how we raise our 
Voice,
To apologies and resent for the 
White noise that were not meant.

If there was a choice to be free,
To move away from ever going 
Tragedies.

We knew the choices where we can leave,
To create a life to breathe,
Out of moon, No shadows but shine.

As you knew her choice
Unreasonable demand, will
Not to be dictated forever by 
Demoralizing,
our secret happy path

Modern Appetite
by Michael R. Burch

It grumbled low, insisting it would feast
on blood and flesh, etcetera, at least
three times a day. With soft lubricious grease

and pale salacious oils, it would ease
its way through life. Each day—an aperitif.
Each night—a frothy bromide, for relief.

It lived on TV fare, wore pinafores,
slurped sugar-coated gumballs, gobbled S’mores.
When gas ensued, it burped and farted. ’Course,

it thought aloud, my wife will leave me. ******
are not so **** particular. Divorce
is certainly a settlement, toujours!

A Tums a day will keep the shrink away,
recalcify old bones, keep gas at bay.
If Simon says, etcetera, Mother, may

I have my hit of calcium today?

Keywords/Tags: modern, appetite, supersize, me, indulgence, gluttony, bromide, seltzer, gas, Tums, calcium, quick, cure, tonic, overeating