KEITH BURKHOLDER - POEMS

Keith Burkholder has been published in Creative Juices, Sol Magazine, Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Poetry Quarterly and Scarlet Leaf Review.  He has a bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo (UB).

                                    Images In A Dream
 
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The thought of his nose bleeding profusely,
Being on the flame over a stove,
These thoughts linger in his mind as he sleeps,
Where do they come from?
He is still asleep,
His mind can't stand these thoughts anymore,
He awakens from the deep sleep,
His forehead is covered in sweat,
He decides to go to the bathroom,
To get a cup for cold water,
He needs to clear his mind,
He gets up and does this task,
The water comes out of the faucet into his cup,
He then drinks the water,
His mind gets cleared now,
The dream he had really wore him out,
He decides to sit at the kitchen table to clear his mind further,
He will try to analyze this dream he had,
He is seated at the kitchen table now,
He goes over the dream in his mind,
They are just a figment of his creative mind,
He finishes drinking the water,
He will go back to bed to rest,
He feels energized after drinking the water,
Will he even experience such a dream again?
Only time will tell,
The mind is a unique mechanism,
This is how it is for him,
Only the future holds an answer about dreams,
In this case, it was unique and only time will tell if any more should happen again,
That is the mystique in life and of the mind as we know it.

       Society Obsesses too much about children


Think about this a little,
Children exist too much in society,
Half of all couples are divorced,
Bullying exists in schools,
Suicides have increased due to bullying,
Yet people keep being ignorant about such happenings,
We have too many people in the world,
Natural resources being wasted as well,
Why should people keep reproducing at alarming rates?
Think of the many people being saved,
Having no children at all,
Lack of reproducing for the next one hundred years,
Overpopulation is scary,
Think before having a family,
In the long run you will be saving money and abuse to natural resources,
Take care and be good to others around you,
For goodness is rare and its benefits are everlasting.


                            If God exists, what does he look like?


Think about this title,
The title of this poem, that is,
What does God look like?
Does he care about us on planet Earth?
I have never seen or spoken to God,
How about you?
We as humans live on planet Earth,
Not an imaginary kingdom in the sky,
Why do we have war and destruction?
Or poverty and crime,
Where is God to rid us of these problems?
Believe what you want,
It is a free world,
Goodness is what counts,
We need more good people,
No religious ones,
Think about it,
Anyone can be religious,
Yet, goodness in our world is lacking greatly,
Tomorrow is a new day,
Think of a better tomorrow,
Stress goodness in our lives,
It is great and it can make the world a better place,
Let the journey for your life continue and try your hand at goodness,
It feels great and it can make someone better,
Take care and carpe diem.
 
 
  
 
  The Sounds around him at night while he sleeps


He is fast asleep,
The voices are around him,
He sleeps and can hear them,
Where are they coming from?
There is no one around him in his bedroom,
He is sleeping alone now,
It is dark outside with a full moon present,
He feels anxious inside,
Will he wake up?
Within in minutes he does,
Sweat pours off of his forehead,
He is up and awake,
There is no one in his bedroom,
Where could the voices have come from?
He takes a few deep breaths,
Then he goes to the kitchen sink,
To get a drink of water,
He needs to clear his mind,
He is now at the kitchen sink,
He gets a glass of water,
He goes to the cabinet to get a glass,
He turns on the faucet,
The water comes out,
He fills his glass with water,
He will then sit down at the kitchen table,
He thinks to himself,
He should be able to sleep again,
This was quite the experience,
He had quite the dream,
He drinks his water,
He will then go back to bed,
Rest is what he needs,
He feels confident again,
What will his future be like?
There is no clear answer to this question,
For the mind is unique,
There is nothing more to think about,
Dreams are dreams and this man will get over it and let his future continue with an open mind,
There is nothing else to add,
Take care, my good man for the mind you have is unique and powerful,
A creative mind is what you have and tomorrow is a new day,
A new day to think and a period of time that will bring a new sense of life as the days come and go, too.