Michael Burch Poet Rhyme

Stones

stones
by michael r. burch, circa age 16

i.
far below me lies a village
with its houses hewn from stone
and while Everyman who lives there
bravely claims he’s not alone,
i can tell him, yes u are!
for u cannot touch the stars
no matter how u try;
nor can u tame the mountains,
nor appease the darkening sky.

ii.
and late at night
their flinty fires blazing cannot warm their stony hearts;
though the villagers “believe” (in what?)
the terror-fear departs
them only at mid-day
for they fear what Others say
when their walls have shut them in.

iii.
and do they sin?
who am i to say?
most stones are shades of gray;
what does it matter, anyway?

iv.
oh, i think that living is not easy
and that dying is not hard ...
as the stars above wink, meaningless,
so they are;
so we all are.

v.
a legion without sound
in dusky darkness drawing down
to settle on the town,
the Night is like a stone —
hard and dark and rolling on,
hard and dark and rolling on.



Villanelle: A Serious Matter
by Michael R. Burch

Listen, love, it’s a serious matter:
I love you better despite the fetter.
I love you madder than any hatter.

Now even though you’re my chains’ begetter
and keep me your slave with that braless sweater,
I love you better despite the fetter.

You say you’re afraid that you’re getting “fatter,”
but your curves are my lust’s prime aider and abettor.
Listen, love, it’s a serious matter.

I love you madder than any hatter.

When you come to bed in sheer lace, my thoughts scatter:
first to the firmer, then to the latter.

I love you better despite the fetter.
I love you madder than any hatter.
Listen, love, it’s a serious matter!

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