i dream of oceans and half moons;
lips against my ear, whispering empty promises;
hidden power dripping between the scars;
forever tattooed on my body;

in the end, i sigh as i finally, finally fully bloom;
no longer a mystery.

The sun a golden earring
The moon a silver penny
The earth a marble
Lost down the sofa of the universe

you’ve become nothing
but fire and wax and regrets.
you’ve become a cautionary tale,
a warning of loving too much too fast
you’ve become a memory
in a long list of lovers, of tragedies

you’ve become nothing
but ash and feathers and bone,
you’ve become a story,
a tale of boys who fell for suns
you’ve become a glimpse,
a moment of clarity that ends all too soon

I was there floating, collapsing in every direction.
Couldn't gather my barning's. I was a compass lost
                    in the waves of eternities disorientation.

I saw her burn, a billion souls screaming in devouring
regrets that spread like a silent blanket.
Smoothing, asphyxiating every blossom, there life
                            expelled to the wind of  meaningless
teardrops that drenched every corner of this apple.

Now glazed in a hue of ill tasting caramel dust..
      We looked down in disturbance.
But a friend who i'd called a friend, mate.

                Looked at us all, a compass of many
lands who worked together for a better after.
This wasn't a time, a tomorrow. to them it was
Already a shockwave of repercussions..

     This egg shell, cracked silently..
In in this vacuum nothing is collected only vacated
at a velocity of collapsed colours petrified.

I was the last human, in the universe that never heard
        a light blown out by the wind of a billion suns..

We were bright for a moment,
            but we faded just as fast.
           My windshield was cracked,
and my oxygen was leaking like
                    flat tire.

Looking down I pondered if we survived
                 our stupidity...

And just like that, I was in a head on with
                 reality and space...
        My windshield was gone,

I was on the bonnet of purgatory..

Afterglow
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

The night is full of stars. Which still exist?
Before time ends, perhaps one day we’ll know.
For now I hold your fingers to my lips
and feel their pulse ... warm, palpable and slow ...

once slow to match this reckless spark in me,
this moon in ceaseless orbit I became,
compelled by wilder gravity to flee
night’s universe of suns, for one pale flame ...

for one pale flame that seemed to signify
the Zodiac of all, the meaning of
love’s wandering flight past Neptune. Now to lie
in dawning recognition is enough ...

enough each night to bask in you, to know
the face of love ... eyes closed ... its afterglow.

Keywords/Tags: afterglow, stars, suns, planets, zodiac, moon, orbit, gravity, universe, love, radiation, night, exist, existence, time

Tides and waves
Eroding groans from shells on stones
The tip from depths
A finite breath
Darker swells where stars dwell
Dwarfs or suns to midnight runs
Nothing is here to stay