Longing
by Michael R. Burch


We stare out at the cold gray sea,
overcome
with such sudden and intense longing . . .

our eyes meet,
inviolate,
and we are not of this earth,
this strange, inert mass.


Before we crept
out of the shoals of the inchoate sea,
before we grew
the quaint appendages
and orifices of love . . .


before our jellylike nuclei,
struggling to be hearts,
leapt
at the sight of that first bright, oracular sun,
then watched it plummet,
the birth and death of our illumination . . .


before we wept . . .
before we knew . . .
before our unformed hearts grew numb,
once again,
in the depths of the sea’s indecipherable darkness . . .


When we were only
a swirling profusion of recombinant things
wafting loose silt from the sea’s soft floor,
writhing and ******* in convulsive beds
of mucousy foliage,


flowering,
flowering,
flowering . . .


what jolted us to life?

Keywords/Tags: life, evolution, love, desire, longing, passion, lust, ***, appendages, orifices

i want to explore
the hidden depths
of the universe with you
my darling,
you are the only lifeforce
i will ever need.

i miss you every day
i write another line
this thing you say to me
goes creeping in my veins
i hate you every day
i write another line
my veins they talk to me
go weeping in my skin
i see you everywhere
i force another line
i hang my heart in shame
this line i write in blood

your face in my sleep
singing ballads of light
weaves candles
from teardrops
the eternal
in sight

i give more than i receive
and i wonder if i deserve more.
but if meeting half way,
and giving less than i feel,
is how to gain equality in our love,
i don't want it.

i can't pretend there's no pit in my stomach
or tug on my heart
or smile on my face
whenever i see you.

no matter what i do,
i can't make your fire burn brighter,
harder
and hotter
for me.

so am i naive to stay
for the affection i receive
when it takes more than it gives?
or is that just love:
it's imperfect.
and i choose it,
him,
us,
every day.

I’m checking on old friends
Looking them up; asking after them
The girls I knew in my younger days
are women now
They’ve grown, blossomed, and matured
moved away, been to college, found love
married, each have children, a house, a car
Their happiness makes me smile
until my smile turns to a frown
when I see how far they’ve come
and I realize
I’m still here

it's as close as i can get

but seeing you
your smile
your eyes
just you

you rip through me
and the longing i feel makes my heart swell
and sink
down to the floor
and i need you here

it's not close enough

i've spent so much time in my bedroom
that i've memorised the walls.
i know every stain
every scratch
like the back of my hand
because it's become my new every day

i guess my physical presence
was the reminder of my existence
and now that it's gone
i'm no longer present in their thoughts
and so i'm left here
alone