The HyperTexts

"Passionate One"
a poem by Michael R. Burch

Form, Theme, Analysis and Meaning



This poem is free to share with someone you love passionately ...

Passionate One
by Michael R. Burch

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.

Form, Theme, Analysis and Meaning: "Passionate One" is a love poem. The first stanza compares the person we love to the sun. The one we love brings light and warmth to an otherwise dreary world, like the dawning sun. The sun is the center of our galaxy, so there is also the idea of centricity. Lovers orbit each other; they are connected by a different form of gravity. The second stanza suggests that there are two components to love. There is the heavenly component, represented by manna (which according to the Bible fell from the heavens when the Israelites were lost in the wilderness). But there is also the earthly component, leaven, which is used to make normal bread rise. In this case there is a mild pun, because here on earth it is passion that makes a certain organ rise. The poem says that we need both: the heavenly component, love, and the earthly component, passion. If you give this poem to a special someone, you are saying that you want the best of both worlds: heavenly love and earthly passion. And you are saying that your partner represents both, in one person.

Bio: Michael R. Burch is an American poet who lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Beth, their son Jeremy, and three outrageously spoiled puppies. His poems, epigrams, translations, essays, articles, reviews, short stories and letters have appeared more than 4,000 times in publications which include TIME, USA Today, The Hindu, BBC Radio 3, CNN.com, Daily Kos, The Washington Post, Light Quarterly, The Lyric, Measure, Writer's Digest—The Year's Best Writing, The Best of the Eclectic Muse, Unlikely Stories and hundreds of other literary journals, websites and blogs. Mike Burch is also the founder and editor-in-chief of The HyperTexts, a former columnist for the Nashville City Paper and, according to Google, a relevant online publisher of poems about the Holocaust, Hiroshima, the Trail of Tears, Darfur, Haiti, Gaza and the Palestinian Nakba. He has two published books, Violets for Beth (White Violet Press, 2012) and O, Terrible Angel (Ancient Cypress Press, 2013). A third book, Auschwitz Rose, is still in the chute but long delayed. Burch's poetry has been translated into eleven languages and set to music by the composers Mark Buller, Alexander Comitas and Seth M. Smith. One of his poems, "First They Came for the Muslims," has been adopted by Amnesty International for its Words That Burn anthology, a free online resource for students and educators. He has also served as editor of International Poetry and Translations for the literary journal Better Than Starbucks.

For an expanded bio, circum vitae and career timeline of the poet, please click here: Michael R. Burch Expanded Bio.

Related Pages: "Davenport Tomorrow" Analysis, "Epitaph" Analysis, "Neglect" Analysis, "Passionate One" Analysis, "Poetry" Analysis,  "Something" Analysis, "Self Reflection" Analysis

The HyperTexts