Poetry Breakfast

Were You With Me

Were you with me when the army of peace fled the field
When the cause and the purpose ran out
++++++++When our culture couldn’t bless us
++++++++When the darker world undressed us
Were you with me when retreat escaped the mouth

I needed my companion in that life of sweet abandon
And I called and called your loveliness to ground
++++++++As our foes were clay and closing
++++++++And our fabric tore like clothing
I called so loud your name replaced the sound

Were you ever really with me when you said you would forgive me
Did you mean it when you praised the love in lust
++++++++When I ran from all you showed me
++++++++With your skin and with the lonely
Were you with me any time you spoke of trust

That army scattered windward with the feather and the cinder,
And I stood alone upon that dying field
++++++++Where I hoped you would stand with me
++++++++Whether shaming or forgiving
Either handing me your poison or your shield

About the Poety:
Miguel Eichelberger writes out of Vancouver, Canada with his authoress wife. He is a traveller, highwayman and untrained flautist. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines such as Vancouver Review, Existere, San Diego State University’s pacificREVIEW, Indiana University’s From The Well House, Joypuke and many others. His first play, Cave, was shortlisted for the 2015 Vancouver Fringe New Play Prize and was selected for the 2015 rEvolver festival in Vancouver.

Poetry Breakfast accepts submissions of poetry and poetry related creative non-fiction year-round.  See our Submission Guidelines page for details on submitting your work.

Photo by Rondell Melling.

You’ll Go

She tells you grace is boring
And you believe her
Because her mouth moves like foreign language.
So, grace must be boring.
She believes in things
Like the beautiful corpse
And that people with mortgages are boring;
Like grace.
God help you, you start seeing
The sense in her religion
Because her hands have joined the argument
And it all makes such a smooth case.
She smiles like you know nothing,
Her eyes in yours,
And you realize you know nothing.
The argument has taken almost all of you,
She wants to go travelling
And you’ll go,
Because she asks you to come.

A Note On Wasting Time

whether snorting coke
or drinking fools of themselves
whether they went to war or
watched shitty tv
they weren’t wasting time
they were getting great at Dying.

About the Poet:
Miguel Eichelberger writes out of Vancouver, Canada with his authoress wife. He is a traveller, highwayman and untrained flautist. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines such as Vancouver Review, Existere, San Diego State University’s pacificREVIEW, Indiana University’s From The Well House, Joypuke and many others. His first play, Cave, was shortlisted for the 2015 Vancouver Fringe New Play Prize and was selected for the 2015 rEvolver festival in Vancouver.

Poetry Breakfast accepts submissions of poetry and poetry related creative non-fiction year-round.  See our Submission Guidelines page for details on submitting your work.

Photo by Rondell Melling.