A Sign / The Ghost Moon by Michael Keshigian

A Sign

It appeared as an illuminated shadow,

a small translucent image

that resembled a distorted monarch butterfly

accentuated by the light

of the colorful stained glass windows

sun’s warm rays penetrated.

It distracted him as he spoke

for it leapt from the open casket

while he eulogized,

circling the pews,

flying between the many candles

then finally ascending toward 

the church rafters

where it rested and posed for a while.

Eventually, it fluttered toward the ceiling

then evaporated through the roof.

He attempted to regain his focus,

curtail the measure of astonishment

that instigated a vocal tremor

while he continued to speak in sorrowful tones

that befit the scenario,

but as he gazed into the eyes

of the distressed onlookers,

he hoped one day

they would read these words

to share his glee.

The Ghost Moon

Through the congested clouds it creeps,

its vague, cratered tonnage,

amid the dust, glides hauntingly 

through the mystery about,

its path worn thin,

reflecting the ambitions

above which it hovers

that are slowly invading

dark recesses once hidden,

barely illuminated by starlight.

Its ghostly image 

meanders in and out of sight,

passing through night 

like a dream of continuous divergence

though its warning 

and pleas can never be discerned

for under the black sky

it has been decreed

to navigate in exile, 

growing more blanch with every revolution

as we stare, 

sometimes in melancholy

sometimes in wonder,

knowing no person

will cast themselves asunder

as savior.

Michael Keshigian, from New Hampshire, has been published in numerous national and international journals, recently including Aji, San Pedro River Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, Muddy River Review, Passager and has appeared as feature writer in over twenty publications with 6 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. His poetry cycle, Lunar Images, set for Clarinet, Piano, Narrator, was premiered at Del Mar College in Texas. Subsequent performances occurred in Boston (Berklee College) and Moleto, Italy. Winter Moon, a poem set for Soprano and Piano, premiered in Boston. (michaelkeshigian.com).