heaven

This is a love poem I wrote for my wife Beth. 

Passionate One
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Love of my life,
light of my morning,
arise brightly dawning,
for you are my sun.

Give me of heaven
both manna and leaven,
Desirous Presence,
Passionate One.

Keywords/Tags: poem, poetry, love, life, passion, desire, dawn, light, sun, heaven, manna, leaven

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The Celtic Cross at Île Grosse
by Michael R. Burch

This is a love poem I wrote for my wife Beth. 

Passionate One
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Love of my life,
light of my morning,
arise brightly dawning,
for you are my sun.

Give me of heaven
both manna and leaven,
Desirous Presence,
Passionate One.

Keywords/Tags: poem, poetry, love, life, passion, desire, dawn, light, sun, heaven, manna, leaven

These are Christmas poems by Michael R. Burch. Some are darker Christmas poems and heretical Christmas poems. 

The First Christmas
by Michael R. Burch

’Twas in a land so long ago . . .
the lambs lay blanketed in snow
and little children everywhere
sat and watched warm embers glow
and dreamed (of what, we do not know).

And THEN—a star appeared on high,
The brightest man had ever seen!
It made the children whisper low
in puzzled awe (what did it mean?).
It made the wooly lambkins cry.

These are poems for fathers and grandfathers, written by Michael R. Burch.

Sunset
by Michael R. Burch
       
This poem is dedicated to my grandfather, George Edwin Hurt Sr.

Between the prophecies of morning
and twilight’s revelations of wonder,
the sky is ripped asunder.

The moon lurks in the clouds,
waiting, as if to plunder
the dusk of its lilac iridescence,

and in the bright-tentacled sunset
we imagine a presence
full of the fury of lost innocence.

These are epigrams I have written over the years about God, religion, the Bible and Christianity. The first epigram is the first poem I remember writing as a boy. 

Bible Libel
by Michael R. Burch

If God
is good,
half the Bible
is libel.

I wrote the epigram above sometime between age eleven and thirteen, after having read the Bible from cover to cover and wondering how anyone could possibly consider the biblical "god" to be "good."

Redefinitions

These are heretical poems about Christian concepts such as heaven, hell and salvation. In the past I have published such poems under the heading "Heresy Hearsay." 

Less Heroic Couplets: Funding Fundamentals
by Michael R. Burch

“I found out that I was a Christian for revenue only and I could not bear the thought of that, it was so ignoble.” — Mark Twain

The angel of the lord
Appeared on TV sets
All over the world

People woke up
Expecting to see
The usual suspects

Talking heads
Talking drivel
Talking trash

Instead
A stern visage
A stern old man
In a dark suit

He had a salt and pepper beard
And long, dark black hair
And piercing blue eyes
Staring out
From his stern face

The eyes
Piercing the soul
Of all who listened

The voice
Of the angel of the lord
Was like thunder