#jolt
I have been a raging fire.
I have been an overflowing cup,
Overflowing with guilt;
I wash it down the sink.
I have been too much for everyone:
Too bold,
Too shy,
Too lustful,
Too innocent.
I poured a bucket of ice on my head
To simmer me down a little bit,
And now that I am freezing,
And I cannot feel the fire no more,
I have met you, the blaze.
And your warmth was burning off my skin,
And it was melting my face off,
And it was too much.
Far too much.
You have given me light and burning warmth,
But I cannot handle the smoke.
I now know how he felt.
I am choking,
So I have left.
I will be too little and too much on my own.
I do not need a spark to jolt me.
Mar 9, 2025
Mar 9, 2025 at 8:14 PM UTC
Ibykos Fragment 286, circa 564 BCE
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Come spring, the grand
apple trees stand
watered by a gushing river
where the maidens’ uncut flowers shiver
and the blossoming grape vine swells
in the gathering shadows.
Unfortunately
for me
Eros never rests
but like a Thracian tempest
ablaze with lightning
emanates from Aphrodite;
the results are frightening—
black,
bleak,
astonishing,
violently jolting me from my soles
to my soul.
Preposterous Eros
by Michael R. Burch
“Preposterous Eros” – Patricia Falanga
Preposterous Eros shot me in
the buttocks, with a Devilish grin,
spent all my money in a rush
then left my heart effete pink mush.
Keywords/Tags: Ibykos, fragment, translation, Eros, Aphrodite, Thracian, tempest, lightning, jolt, soul, spring, apple, trees, river, flowers, grape, vine, shadows
Apr 7, 2020
Apr 7, 2020 at 6:02 AM UTC
Ibykos Fragment 286, circa 564 BCE
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Come spring, the grand
apple trees stand
watered by a gushing river
where the maidens’ uncut flowers shiver
and the blossoming grape vine swells
in the gathering shadows.
Unfortunately
for me
Eros never rests
but like a Thracian tempest
ablaze with lightning
emanates from Aphrodite;
the results are frightening—
black,
bleak,
astonishing,
violently jolting me from my soles
to my soul.
Keywords/Tags: Ibykos, fragment, translation, Eros, Aphrodite, Thracian, tempest, lightning, jolt, soul, spring, apple, trees, river, flowers, grape, vine, shadows
Preposterous Eros
by Michael R. Burch
“Preposterous Eros” – Patricia Falanga
Preposterous Eros shot me in
the buttocks, with a Devilish grin,
spent all my money in a rush
then left my heart effete pink mush.
Apr 5, 2020
Apr 5, 2020 at 3:39 AM UTC
I
was looking
through the smog
and
wandering at
isolated places
in the forest,
listening to all
the horrifying
sounds
and
trying to
identify the
masked faces,
with the feeling
of some
unexpected
moments...
A sudden jolt
woke me up,
to make me
realize
it was just a
Midnight Dream!
Aug 12, 2019
Aug 12, 2019 at 6:15 AM UTC
It's the waking up I hate
Not the going to sleep
People often confuse the two
Not understanding what I mean
I love to dream the night away
The bed is one of my favorite places
But every time I open my eyes
All I see are disappointed faces
So you see it's easier to stay up
Pull an all-nighter or at least try
Than to be shook awake by the painful reality
The sobering pathetic state of my life
So to avoid the jolt of the sudden truth
I stay up until I can't fight and fall
Honestly I'd sleep forever if I could
But I can't so I'd rather not go to sleep at all
Feb 12, 2019
Feb 12, 2019 at 1:50 AM UTC
I was startled to hear the sound of kissing again. Flesh lapping against each other like waves, my hands stroking the nape of your neck, tracing patterns and you biting my lip, grinning a little bit.
Kiss me.
We're way too eager that your crooked teeth bump against mine.
Laugh and pull away.
Graze the hollow at the base of my throat.
Your earlobes.
Your hands.
My *******
Gasps that escape our lips.
Kiss.
Oct 31, 2018
Oct 31, 2018 at 12:58 PM UTC
Sending all signals they possess the soul
Feel a jolt from clouds of lightning
This is all true I know
They have taken my soul
Replaced by something new
Just to get a new aspect view
Free the eternal soul within me
Not a question of why or what is with this
Songs I sing can not be replaced
The thought of that can not be erased
Things these days have no means to an end
I hope that someday there will be a another message I can send
Feeling the pressure I release a gift that will surface
Hoping someday something new will serve it’s purpose
They all confused me
Confounded because my talent is not lazy
Help me survive where I want to be
Because they all diluted me
Oct 10, 2018
Oct 10, 2018 at 9:51 AM UTC
It wasn’t so much
Like falling
As it was being hit
By a fifty-ton train
That jolted me awake.
Jul 24, 2018
Jul 24, 2018 at 1:26 PM UTC
Across the green of the lawn, the morning sun
makes a spectacular splash, a wash of gold,
the lonely tree blissfully embracing soft fog
all night long, gets annoyed and feels cheated
as the hands of sun tickles wisps of fog, startled
she hurriedly leaves disentangling the branches.
A black cat, rudely woken up by sun's sultry pinch
still her eyes half closed, runs across the lawn,
the dark shadow of the tree fallen across her path
engulfs her, perplexed she rolls on the ground
still her eyes closed, thinks she is trapped and
something is going to happen,"I am dead" she meows,
a morning bird on a low branch, seeing this,is amused,
in mirth she tweets aloud" you fool, you fool, get up"
Nov 20, 2014
Nov 20, 2014 at 10:21 AM UTC
I am the
fleeting darkness
after the lights flicker off.
Shrouding shadows.
I am the
ever present
feeling of hidden eyes.
Secretly staring.
I am the
ominous, cold jolt
branching up shaking spines.
Striking silently.
Dec 11, 2013
Dec 11, 2013 at 7:01 PM UTC