Kindling by Michael Keshigian

He gathered it

for the insatiable fire

that will churn in the stove,

crooked limbs and branches

floating upon a bed of forest mulch,

stripped of bark and brittle,

a bone white innocence of decay,

being the last remnants of birch

or ash and even fortuitous oak,

beaten by wind and rain,

tumbling down,

left to dry and naked,

devoid of the crow’s nest

or the carpenter ant’s

voracious appetite,

eventually desecrated

by fingers of flames

scratching each petrified stalk

as if to mollify an itch

upon the back of a drafty room.

Michael Keshigian’s thirteenth poetry collection, The Garden Of Summer was released April, 2019 by Flutter Press. He has been widely published in numerous national and international journals, recently including Red River Review, Wild Violet Magazine, Bluepepper, Muddy River Review, Smoky Quartz and has appeared as feature writer in over twenty publications with 6 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. (michaelkeshigian.com)