Metamorphosis by Michael Keshigian

On this particular day, when he awoke,
he found that he was not quite himself,
not the ego-centric professor,
dressing to teach,
who feigned all the answers.
Today, in a blue wave of brightness,
he was the sky, igniting the landscape.
Today, maple buds blossomed from his fingertips.
Within these deep woods of seclusion.
he somehow became
the embodiment of emanating Spring,
became the warmth
that melted edges of winter off the day,
became the breeze, that frolicked
alongside the leaves, yielded to an ant
as it crossed a thawing mulched path.
He stared at the insect, admiring its strength,
how it lived everyday to its greatest potential.
A bit of the ant crawled within him.
Then he saw a fox, a moose, and all
the other miracles fulfilling their lives
deep within the woods.
Continuing up this magic mountain,
he scaled until he reached the top
and found a reflection himself,
a culmination of all he had seen.
From the tip of this summit
in the northern woods of his psyche,
he lurched forward to embrace his potential,
became the bear, the great white whale,
a panther, a horse. His body
bloomed into the orb of a dahlia,
as his heart became a cardinal
perched upon a bony rib, red, rustling
and whistling an emphatic morning melody.

Michael Keshigian's poetry has appeared in numerous national and international journals. He has authored 14 poetry collections and has been nominated 7 times for a Pushcart prize and 3 times for Best of the Net. His latest chapbook, Poems from the Sky, was released by Cyberwit.net in March.