Legacy by Michael Keshigian

Town of his birth, he is rushing back

to the house of his infant years,

escaping throngs of cars

and frenzied employees

that clutter city sidewalks,

searching with his headlights bright

for the narrow country roads

that lead to the place

of his grandfather’s voluntary exile.

To the chagrin of co-workers

and business bosses,

he is consumed, a knight,

galloping backward in time

toward the black and white world

of family history to save the home

and the barely valuable heirlooms

of his predecessors, significant only

in longevity and the decades of old fingerprints

that might have survived,

family portraits, antique bedrooms,

the grand piano he never learned how to play.

Tonight, within the seclusion

of secrets and memories,

he will clean and pamper them,

listen to all their stories,

and accept them again as house guests,

at least for another lifetime.

Michael Keshigian, author of eight poetry books, has been widely published in numerous national and international journals. He is a 5-time Pushcart Prize and 2-time Best Of The Net nominee. (michaelkeshigian.com)