Early Poems Xiv

Early Poems XIV Am I by Michael R. Burch Am I inconsequential; do I matter not at all? Am I just a snowflake, to sparkle, then to fall? Am I only chaff? Of what use am I? Am I just a feeble flame, to flicker, then to die? Am I inadvertent? For what reason am I here? Am I just a ripple in a pool that once was clear? Am I insignificant? Will time pass me by? Am I just a flower, to live one day, then die? Am I unimportant? Do I matter either way? Or am I just an echo— soon to fade away? I was around age 14 or 15 when I wrote this poems. Time by Michael R. Burch Time, where have you gone? What turned out so short, had seemed like so long. Time, where have you flown? What seemed like mere days were years come and gone. Time, see what you've done: for now I am old, when once I was young. Time, do you even know why your days, minutes, seconds preternaturally fly? This is a companion piece to "Am I" so I was probably around age 14 or 15 when I wrote it. Analogy by Michael R. Burch Our embrace is like a forest lying blanketed in snow; you, the lily, are enchanted by each shiver trembling through; I, the snowfall, cling in earnest as I press so close to you. You dream that you now are sheltered; I dream that I may break through. I believe I wrote this poem around age 18. The lily symbolizes purity and virginity. absinthe sea by Michael R. Burch i hold in my hand a goblet of absinthe the bitter green liqueur reflects the dying sunset over the sea and the darkling liquid froths up over the rim of my cup to splash into the free, churning waters of the sea i do not drink i do not drink the liqueur, for I sail on an absinthe sea that stretches out unendingly into the gathering night its waters are no less green and no less bitter, nor does the sun strike them with a kinder light they both harbor night, and neither shall shelter me neither shall shelter me from the anger of the wind or the cruelty of the sun for I sail in the goblet of some Great God who gazes out over a greater sea, and when my life is done, perhaps it will be because He lifted His goblet and sipped my sea. I seem to remember writing this poem in college, around age 18, just because I liked the sound of the word “absinthe.” I had no idea, really, what it was or what absinthe looked or tasted like, beyond something I had read somewhere. Keywords/Tags: 10th grade, high school, college, class, childhood, graduate, analogy