Will There Be Starlight?

Will there be starlight

tonight

while she gathers

damask

and lilac

and sweet-scented heathers?

And will she find flowers,

or will she find thorns

guarding the petals

of roses unborn?

Will there be moonlight

tonight

while she gathers

seashells

and mussels

and albatross feathers?

And will she find treasure

or will she find pain

at the end of this rainbow

of moonlight on rain?

For readings and discussion of Michael Burch's poetry, see the New Lyre "Profiles in Poetry" series.

Michael R. Burch is the editor of The HyperTexts, on-line at www.thehypertexts.com, where he has published hundreds of poets over the past twenty years. His poetry has been translated into eleven languages and set to music by three composers. A five-time Pushcart nominee, his poems, translations and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary journals, including Light Quarterly, The Lyric, Measure, Iambs & Trochees, Blue Unicorn, The Chariton Review, The Chimaera, Able Muse, Lucid Rhythms, Poem Today, Asses of Parnassus, Writer’s Digest—The Year’s Best Writing and The Best of the Eclectic Muse.