When you met her, she melted you with her words
She soothed your aching heart
Made the dragon inside you cower in fear
She brought you hope and became your light in the dark
You fell for her, hard and fast
Because that's what you do
That's how your heart works
Should that be considered your fault?
The way you feel, so intense, so unrelenting?
It isn't hers, and you know that, so why are you hurt?
You didn't listen, you never do
Because you're fooled by illusions that you create for yourself
Imaginations of a life that could never be
She's in love with someone else
How can she possibly care for you the way that you do for her?
It's not her fault, so don't be upset
You can't help but wonder if you really mean anything at all
Because you've been here before, haven't you?
Yeah, you have, several times
You're so used to being the other guy
A place for the hurt to run away
And seek shelter from their pain
Even now, deep inside somewhere you're hoping
That somehow in the future things might change
But you know all too well how futile that is
Because you've been there before
Yeah, you still remember that night in that apartment
You knew better but couldn't resist
And all you were to her was a pawn to make HIM jealous
Should it be your fault that you gave that woman something you can never get back?
It didn't matter how many times you gave her the answer, she kept asking
"No" was not something she wanted to hear, so what did you do?
You cracked, because you didn't want to make her mad
You felt like you were doing something wrong by saying no
Because men are supposed to always be consenting, remember?
In your mind, you thought you were easing her pain
But really she was causing yours
Four years later and it still haunts you
You're afraid of getting that close to someone again
But she wasn't the last
Because she wasn't the first
Let's talk about someone more recent
Nine years of knowing this other woman and you thought she really cared
Boy she had you so fooled for so long
You always thought that once HE was gone, it could work
But then he was
And you were too
And she didn't even look back
Not once
Not even when you reached out
Because you gave her what she wanted
And all she did was take
So now you're just left thinking
Any love for you must be fake
You're cursed, aren't you?
Placed under a spell
To constantly love a living hell
All you want is love
Just somebody to hold
But it's been more trouble than it's worth
That's why when a familiar face returned, you fell so hard and fast
Boy you must have hit your head on the way down
Because you know that no one could love you like that
A brother, a friend, a close friend
But that's all because of who you are
You've heard it all before
A great guy, easy to talk to, anyone would be lucky to have you
But there's always another guy
You're just the place to run away
And that's all you'll ever be
Because even though you feel so strong for her
And even though you're left wondering if maybe it's even more than just strong feelings
You know deep down that you'll just be alone
Never a place to rest your head
But you didn't want just anybody
You wanted her
But you have to respect her wishes
You don't DARE step a single foot across that line
Because you've done that before too
When you gave what you can't get back
She'll move on and love on and she should
You are not her responsibility
Even though it hurts and it aches and you might feel a little crushed
You can't possibly be mad at her because it isn't her fault
She's special in ways you can't even describe
And you don't want to lose her at all
So even if you are just a place to run away
You want to be that for her
Because you love her, don't you?
You're saying no, you don't, you just think you do
Maybe you're right
Probably best she doesn't know
Yeah, it's just a crush, that's all
It hurts but you'll move on and find someone else
And she'll love someone else too
Because you've been there before
And you'll be there again

my nose now runs seasonallyfrom sigh droplets

every new season celebrated by the constant continuation
of its running from, running to ?, or as I joke,  
from  September to September inclusive

but something new, my eyes now watery, a permanente daily irregularity, the imaginary laundry lady whines consistently, as she cannot always locate, prior to machine insertion, for all my secret hiding places of the always everywhere ***** tissues!

“too many pockets, too many tissues,” she underbreath mumbles,
but secretly I observe her similarly daubing~dabbing of the eyes,
in this time of constant sorrow, no one immunized, the sigh droplets
pass through any mask and gown, and then become full time residents

wry thinking, “let he or she who is without stone, cast the first tissue”
but we are all ****** all the time, heavy heaving, eyes tearing and
noses running

it don’t take much, the continuous reportage batters me and turning
away from my electronics impossible, they now hard wired inside the maniac-brainiac, wifi’d, from every side, even a actual glance outside at the desert of our dehumanized streetscapes always amazes

we no longer worry that every sniffle or tear
is a warning sign of  a more serious ailment;
no, we understand too well this is a sad spirit inside,
it’s symptoms unleashed but un-lethal, the antibody
to a weariness that has no name, only tissues that

cannot cure nor disinfect

crouching for shelter
from pattering rain, I sat -
before cutting him.

For a Palestinian Child, with Butterflies
by Michael R. Burch

Where does the butterfly go ...
when lightning rails ...
when thunder howls ...
when hailstones scream ...
when winter scowls ...
when nights compound dark frosts with snow ...
where does the butterfly go?

Where does the rose hide its bloom
when night descends oblique and chill,
beyond the capacity of moonlight to fill?
When the only relief’s a banked fire’s glow,
where does the butterfly go?

And where shall the spirit flee
when life is harsh, too harsh to face,
and hope is lost without a trace?
Oh, when the light of life runs low,
where does the butterfly go?

Published by Tucumcari Literary Review, Romantics Quarterly, Poetry Life & Times, Victorian Violet Press (where it was nominated for a “Best of the Net”), The Contributor (a Nashville homeless newspaper), Siasat (Pakistan), and set to music as a part of the song cycle “The Children of Gaza” which has been performed in various European venues by the Palestinian soprano Dima Bawab. Keywords/Tags: butterfly, children, storm, lightning, thunder, hailstones, snow, frost, night, shelter, comfort, safety, rose, fire, warmth, Holocaust, Nakba, Gaza, Trail of Tears, slavery, injustice, abuse, ethnic cleansing, genocide

Be That Rock
by Michael R. Burch

for my grandfather, George Edwin Hurt Sr.

When I was a child
I never considered man’s impermanence,
for you were a mountain of adamant stone:
a man steadfast, immense,
and your words rang.

And when you were gone,
I still heard your voice, which never betrayed,
"Be strong and of a good courage,
neither be afraid ..."
as the angels sang.

And, O!, I believed
for your words were my truth, and I tried to be brave
though the years slipped away
with so little to save
of that talk.

Now I'm a man—
a man ... and yet Grandpa ... I'm still the same child
who sat at your feet
and learned as you smiled.
Be that rock.

I don't remember when I wrote this poem, but I will guess around age 18 in 1976. The verse quoted is from an old, well-worn King James Bible my grandfather gave me after his only visit to the United States, as he prepared to return to England with my grandmother. I was around eight at the time and didn't know if I would ever see my grandparents again, so I was heartbroken—destitute, really. Keywords/Tags: Grandfather, Grandpa, rock, shelter, fortress, strength, courage, angels, years, time, age, loss, truth, voice

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly, in despair.

Because you came to me in my black torment
and kissed me fiercely, blazing like the sun
upon parched desert dunes, till in dawn’s foment
they melt, I am undone.

Because I am undone, you have remade me
as suns bring life, as brilliant rains endow
the earth below with leaves, where you now shade me
and bower me, somehow.

Keywords/Tags: Love, compassion, tenderness, kisses, melt, melting, sun, rain, bower, shelter, comfort, refuge, home, union