for the children of the Holocaust, Ukraine and Gaza
Where does the butterfly go
when lightning rails
when thunder howls
when hailstones scream
when winter scowls
when nights compound dark frosts with snow
where does the butterfly go?
Where does the rose hide its bloom
when night descends oblique and chill,
beyond the capacity of moonlight to fill?
When the only relief’s a banked fire’s glow,
where does the butterfly go?
And where shall the spirit flee
when life is harsh, too harsh to face,
and hope is lost without a trace?
Oh, when the light of life runs low,
where does the butterfly go?
by Michael R. Burch
In my opinion, the most important human rights are the human rights of children to grow up without becoming the victims of racism, inequality, injustice, homelessness, malnutrition, starvation or war. I agree with Gandhi, who said that if we want to live in a better world, we need to start with the children.
Yet
Not yet.
Yet time draws near.
And yet, there is no fear.
Yet still, I wonder what comes next.
Yet now...
“WHAT YOU WILL” Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand
9/22/2025
All the stars
Start to shine
When you are around
When you fate away
Their shine goes away
When you fate away
My heart goes away
It seems like love just wants to kill you,
but don't ever let it still you.
Can you endure it any longer?
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Dad, is this the will I once craved?
All your jewels you have sold,
On penury your will engraved,
A fortune no hands can hold.
Your will holds lies that I see through,
Nothing of worth it defines,
And your conscience never pricks you,
To waste heap your will consigns.
I wept you left me not a house,
Yet you built many, I know;
Not that I grumble or carouse,
But my spirit you laid low.
I thought I'd get more from your will,
For you died wealthy, you did,
Your writ reveals a barren till,
And leaves me all I forbid.
I am your only child alive,
Your legacy lies in vain,
The grave where your true wealth should thrive
Holds silence, loss, and disdain.
Perchance, this is but your feigned death,
Then spare me this cold meanness;
Grief I'll wrest from my labored breath,
Till truth is told with keenness.
Seems like yesterday when living was put on hold
and health worth more than a vault filled with gold.
The world was held in the grasp of an evil disease
and everyone felt great fear, anxiety and unease.
Seems like yesterday when our faces had to be masked.
There were many unanswered questions that we asked.
Our noses were swabbed, an inoculation in the arm.
Yet, the pandemic lingered. We panicked with alarm.
Seems like yesterday when the world was on its knees
praying and begging to defeat the deadly scourge, please.
A monster, Covid, was a rampant beast and out of control,
a merciless killer who imprisoned each of us in a hellhole.
Seems like yesterday the world was paralyzed with strife.
For some, drawing a breath was the last one taken in life.
Millions suffered, while on the brink of death we prayed.
Still Covid lingered; the haunting beast that kept us afraid.
Seems likes yesterday life had become a living nightmare
as we pleaded for a cure from anyone; no time to spare.
Now, we hope such a monster never taunts us ever again,
or yesterday will haunt us with another villain to contain.
No escape for words from freedom’s ink,
My blood is jailed in sleepless veins.
The tears of awareness dissolve belief,
Blades of grandeur slice my nerves,
And stillness strangles every motion,
Crushing rhythm into endless death.
Meetings of minds shine brightly…
flicker erratically… inevitably die...
Being unique instruments ~
requiring singular insulants
The stale residue of words
unlinked, unloved, uncared for
Like crackers on parched tongues
do no service to literature
Image-less, rotting in place
in letter segregation disintegrate
No one to protest their abuse
their ashes fit no urn
achingly ...
he still recalled
as if but a day hence ...
the air still moved, tender
the earth a-sole, still trembling
grasses parting like swells for a mighty prow
dust from bulky feet in diaphanous clouds ...
swept up and woven like a thin shuka
as if a Maasai blessing
to grace the hips of the coy Kilimanjaro ...
yet naught remained but the beautiful white
the echoes of the poachers' rifles
and countless cries of a grand species, ghosted
lost to the thirsty Serengeti soil
shamed red by the rills of blood let
for a sake, sadistic ...
and the inexhaustible glut
of greed.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden
( photographic art created copyright-free by the author with GALA AI software )
Holy Mother...don't leave me alone
Night is comin'...for this heart of stone
Hell's gate opens...and dark Sirens wail
Hell's Angels bark...barkin' on my trail
Mother Mercy...shine mercy on me
Devil's comin'...and I can't break free
Caged, enraged...I tend my grave
Eyes of fire...an eternal slave
Chorus:
And the fire...brings his rain
Cuz his reign...admires pain
And my past...just a stain
In this prison alone
And my rain...entertains
Cuz my pain...still remains
And my blood...ever stains
In this prison of stone
There's a path that winds its way, through shadows dark and deep,
A journey of solitude, where none can creep.
No companion can walk alongside, no hand to hold or guide,
A solitary voyage, where body and soul must divide.
Unlike life's vibrant roads, where laughter echoes free,
Where friends and loved ones stroll, in joyous company.
This journey's different, a lone pilgrimage, devoid of sound,
Where footsteps fade into silence, and hearts are left unbound.
The most poignant sorrow, is the disconnection's pain,
No words can bridge the gap, no visits can remain.
When one departs, they're gone, without a tomorrow's light,
Leaving memories to whisper, in the darkness of endless night.
In this lonely passage, we're left to face our fears,
With only shadows as companions, and tears that dry through the years.
No laughter echoes back, no smiles to warm the way,
Just the weight of final goodbyes, in the fading light of day.
Yet, in this solitude, we're forced to confront our soul,
To find the strength within, to make our hearts whole.
For though the journey's lonely, it's also a chance to grow,
To find the peace that lies within, and let our spirits glow.
Words are enough.
They don't some overdramatized definition of them,
Don't be a fool to explain it to me.
I'd rather die a lonely and cruel death, by my own hands.
Words —
They don't come easy, do they?
The blurry effect on my left iris left me partially blind.
It tears my other eye to see it in the mirror.
Words, they are spat out like fetid, rotting chunder,
Why do they taste so putrid and smell so obnoxious?
When I try to let them out, they escape through my eye,
Leaking and spewing festering dross.
Technicolor yawn mimics the man in the mirror and then
He would call in sick the next day.
As the pus decay in the drought and barren land of my eye,
I was recommended using Ciprofloxacin.
Words —
Words like "I need help" and "why does it hurt so bad?"
I wish I never knew how to speak.
Instead of the infection of my worm-eaten and vile eye,
I desiderate it be my mouth rather.
Words like these are what made me feel how I feel now,
Enervated and debilitated.
windowpane trembles
shattered like the wren below ~
sad blue reflected
* For the “Your Choice Haiku” Poetry Contest, Brain Strand Judge & Sponsor. *
woe, to my woken, winter's sleep
dark shadows chilling my hollow
springs well up, orbs forever weep
winter rings...no spring will follow
bitter is the cold, bitter so old
bitter for just...one last, first start
sprinklings of springs, so young and bold
now, ice-slick sickles, sever my heart
oh, bitter is the winter of my death
bitter keeps ring, ringing, my phone
bitter is...the hindering of breath
bitter is...my winter alone
Specific Types of Death Poems
Read wonderful death poetry on the following sub-topics:
anniversary, brother, cat, child, dog, elegy, eulogy, father, friend, funeral, goodbye, grandfather, grandmonther, grief, in loving memory, loss, lover, memorial, missing you, mother, moving on, pet, rip, sad, sister, suicide, sympathy,
and more.
Definition | What is Death in Poetry?
Poems Related to Death
afterlife, bereavement, darkness, death of a friend, decease, demise, departure, dying, eternal rest, extinction, fatality, grave, grim reaper, heaven, loss, lost love, mortality, paradise, parting, passing, passing over, repose, sleep, the end, tomb