Chloe
by Michael R. Burch

There were skies onyx at night ... moons by day ...
lakes pale as her eyes ... breathless winds
******* tall elms ... she would say
that we'd loved, but some book said we’d sinned.

Soon impatiens too fiery to stay
sagged; the crocus bells drooped, golden-limned;
things of brightness, rinsed out, ran to gray ...
all the light of that world softly dimmed.

Where our feet were inclined, we would stray;
there were paths where dead weeds stood untrimmed,
distant mountains that loomed in our way,
thunder booming down valleys dark-hymned.

What I found, I found lost in her face
while yielding all my virtue to her grace.

Originally published by Romantics Quarterly as “A Dying Fall.” Keywords/Tags: Night, onyx, skies, love, ***, sin, thunder, lightning, virtue, grace, moons, lakes, winds, mountains, Chloe

When I was little
I was told that rain
was the tears of angels.
How much pain must they be in
to create a storm such as this?
The lightning their sobs,
thunder their raging breaths,
hot tears turned cold as they fall to the ground
down on their knees
eyes ******* shut
throat burning as they wail.
What must have happened
to those perfect,
beautiful creatures?
Were they staring down at the world
watching as we
pillage and ****
****** and steal
lie and cheat?
Listening to us scream
in anger
or pain
or frustration?
Tuning in to the thoughts
of our broken youth
hearing them hate
and hurt themselves
till they're covered in scars
that will never fade?
The hurricane never waves
flood rising crashing like ocean waves
wind torturing nature around it.
The trees creak and sway
as the angels mourn.
The world around them
finally reflects the conflictions
in their heads.

Slashing through
The silver visage
Of a golden dream.
Snapped open
With the clap of a book
That cleanly split an
Eternally unified sky,
And resonated through
This stagnant planet.