Burton's work in "Given Time" is born of a style that can only be described as brave, raw, and almost painfully honest; like the tartness of a delicious orange that one must tolerate the first moments of, tears forming in our eyes before we can relax and savor the sweetness of the rest of the experience on our tongues. He does not hold back; and that's what keeps him writing, and his readers reading. Nothing is more admirable than complete honesty. And Burton gives it with near reckless abandon, making him a writer who will not be ignored. His prose stands for itself. Sometimes bold, sometimes brave, and sometimes so vulnerable that we want to crawl into a shell with him. And then, when a revelation of soul occurs, climb back out into the sun with him into his brave new world. For the reader who will take these tiny but giant journeys of the soul with him, they will have grown a foot, run around the entire world, and collapsed in exhaustion on the comfort of their own sweet bed at their own true home. Burton takes us there and back again, not without danger of intense feeling-- but delivers us safely back where we belong. --Audrey Rock Professional journalist and producer "The title poem for "Given Time" sets the hushed and wistful tone for a poetry book destined to soothe the souls of those who take but a little time to read it . . ." Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning poet and novelist