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.

Soul Questions / Anxious Amble by Michael Keshigian

Soul Questions

He thought about his soul

as he walked forest trails

on a summer morning,

deciding it might be solid like his heart

rather than intangible like his mind.

Yet solid meant

it would eventually fail

and break apart

like the tender wings of a moth.

And if it were,

where might it be?

Could he be sure he had one?

Do others?

The fawn that crosses his path

then scampers in fright,

had the face of a child

confronting a stranger.

The black crow that caws concern

amid the pines

warns his brethren.

Bears retreat into caves

for sleep and survival.

Surely, they may posses

what he cannot locate.

It might have a shape

like a mountain

or resemble the beady eye of a loon.

Why wouldn’t a fox have one

or the robin who tenders her young

so carefully?

For that matter, why wouldn’t

the trees, the shrubs, or the lady slippers

with their big pink heads?

All living things bleed when they are cut.

Perhaps the soul is liquid.

 

Anxious Amble

The trees, on this late summer’s eve,
coerced him into believing
they could hear his thoughts,
sense his angst as they bent over
the path upon which he strolled
while night climb slowly
down their limbs
to absorb fading shadows
that danced the trail he trespassed
as the wind whimpered a whistle.
The ample leaves flailed
and quivered their percussive timbre,
a collective voice
that seemed to answer
his queries when breezes stoked the air,
silenced when the setting sun
stifled the airstream locomotion,
mitigating nature’s delicate response.
With everything quiet, everything dark,
the remembrance of another evening’s saunter
illuminated his mind,
an evening filled with laughter,
happy hearts,
bare-feet splashing in an ocean puddle,
a romantic caress; what heavy,
hurried steps he took to keep pace
with the bright image upon him
until it too faded into the current darkness
that consumed him,
steps that eventually guided him
to the sky at path’s end,
a clouded, misty sky,
where even the stars, night’s children,
those glimmers of hope
against infinite night,
were missing as well.

Michael Keshigian has recently been published in Tipton Poetry Journal, Studio One, Spank the Carp and Jerry Jazz Musician as well as many other national and international journals.  He is the author of 14 poetry collections and has been nominated 7 times for a Pushcart prize and 3 times for Best of the Net. Michael's latest chapbook, Poems from the Sky, will be released by Cyberwit.com this month.

Midnight Actor / To A Crow by Michael Keshigian

Midnight Actor

Often at midnight I’ll go out to see

an abundantly clear sky

and its cast of starry characters,

playing lead roles

in their own dimensions.

I stare upward on a bed of grass

as the lingering heat of the day

penetrates cotton fabric

which covers my back.

The night quiet soothes me

as I venture to become part of the scene,

take my place in the universal drama,

a fragment of infinity,

belonging to an existence

greater than the value of man.

But the part overwhelms me,

the boundless stage is frightful,

space and time alter my perception

and as small a role as I play in the production,

I no longer feel comfortable with the script.

Abruptly, I rise

to return to the friendly lights

and secure surroundings of home,

happy to be a leading character

in a lesser presentation,

a star with gravitational force

in a personal galaxy,

aware that upon another midnight,

I’ll attempt to compromise my casting

in the grander scheme.

 

To A Crow

 

Your perch upon

the high white pines

dizzies rooftops

which stare at your nest,

nestled on a branch,

camouflaged by fir,

green curtains closed about you

and blue sky behind

completes your décor.

The sun illuminates your airy boudoir,

the gusty wind delights lofty humidity,

as you sit alone in luxury

and the rare lightness

of a fluttering disposition.

Prince of altitude,

heaven and whispering clouds

become your attire,

and when you visit,

red roses, white birch,

and colorful phlox

bloom in your park.

You are night, passing through day,

an avian ambassador to the wingless

that rules the ancient court

beyond those living, 

hidden above our heads,

we whisper in response

to your flagrant call.

 

 

Michael Keshigian has recently been published in The California Quarterly, Chiron Review, San Pedro River Review, and Panoply as well as many other national and international journals.  He is the author of 14 poetry collections and has been nominated 7 times for a Pushcart prize and 3 times for Best of the Net.

Approaching Storm / Moon Glow by Michael Keshigian

Approaching Storm 

He was walking along the boundary wall
when he observed wild weeds
that grew between the stones
subtly shivering in summer sunlight.
Perhaps they sensed tumult in the air
though the sun glimmered
and shadows lingered long
across the lawn
in the silent afternoon.
The sky maintained its cobalt hue,
but the cardinals
had ceased their song.
No butterflies or bees
hovered among the blooms,
no ants feasted upon
the rotted limbs of oak
strewn about the yard.
The trees, nevertheless, maintained
an odd twist and bent slightly,
in deference to something
they discerned
hidden within the calm of the day,
something, perhaps,
about to lurch forward
of which no one had a clue,
arrested, as we all were,
by the motionless, deafening quiet.

Moon Glow

 

As if you hid a secret,
layers of wispy clouds,
deflecting your pale, white aura,
camouflaging the stars about you,
tell me about the path I seek
which you cleverly disguise
with the diffracted silhouettes you create.
Will I ever find my way?
You steal away my compass,
direction becomes obscured
yet my imagination wanders,
and like a detective
I decipher shadows,
that veil various clues
and confiscate some evidence
to find my way home
until you interfere and vary your glow
behind a thicker cumulus wrapper,
cloaking each trail one by one
into the corners of darkness,
abandoning me with only my wits
to combat the thickening night
and my wayward journey homewards.
If you did leave a hint,
I have overlooked it
while drifting aimlessly
as branches and rocks
impede my stride and alter my path
toward destination’s arrival
and the prevailing light of sunrise.




Michael Keshigian is the author of 14 poetry collections and has recently been published in the Comstock Review, Blue Pepper, Young Ravens Literary Review, and Jerry Jazz Musician, with 7 Pushcart Prize and 3 Best Of The Net nominations.

Night Eye by Michael Keshigian

The moon which comes
through the dark
and settles between layers
of wispy, cumulus haze,
feebly illuminates a path
the sun has abandoned
while casting a pale, dead silent beam
downward to spy from a distance
our forbidden actions
beneath the cloak of night.
To the unsuspecting,
it is a most beautiful lie,
thinking all is secure,
that the moon watches,
but in truth
it thinks of nothing
and only waits to see
what might appear,
camouflaged and covert
in the seamless summer night
of the world below,
though should the moon
shine its eye to reveal
those with malevolent intent
and keep the balance,
what might we do
but merely enjoy its light
and with our hearts
continue to hope.

Michael Keshigian has recently been published in the Tipton Poetry Journal, Bluepepper, Young Ravens Literary Review, and Jerry Jazz Musician. His latest collections, What To Do With Intangibles, Into The Light, Dark Edges, are available through Amazon.  He has been nominated 7 times for a Pushcart Prize and 3 times for Best Of The Net.

Angels by Michael Keshigian

Circling above,
camouflaged by clouds,
tips of their wings
fanned like fingers,
they smooth distorted clouds
to a silken, translucent texture,
hazing the bright blue ceiling,
whimsically tickling heaven’s brow
while emitting a clarion call
as divine conversation,
a syllable or two back and forth
in leisurely fashion
as if time did not exist
although the sun was low,
settling in the west
and they had fallen
into the shade
while endearing the moon.

Michael Keshigian has been published in the Sierra Nevada Review, Oyez Review, Chiron Review, California Quarterly, and Edison Literary Review among many others. He is the author of 14 poetry collections with 7 Pushcart Prize and 3 Best Of The Net nominations.

Stars by Michael Keshigian

He sought to deny the mystery of stars,
and the vast emptiness
between each blinking lamp,
but what might his mindset be
should these lanterns that delineated paths,
leading to answers so desired,
disappear, leaving dark, empty pages
and the sky’s black ink indecipherable.
The impenetrable shade,
would suffocate a summer’s night
when he might otherwise launch himself
toward the shimmering silver signals
to navigate extended black pastures
and linger to contemplate the many queries
the endlessness inspired.
This quizzical stare at infinity
unnerved him yet oddly instigated hope,
possibility woven amid
these barely perceptible balls of fire
awakening him to a surrealistic
yet contemplative awareness,
immersed in a longing to solve the riddle,
his dull pale pupils, reflecting a desire
to rise from the shadow of himself
into the refreshing breath of night
where chances twinkled
and telegraphed messages
into extended darkness,
as Earth embroidered it all
into comfort and a silent sleep.

Michael Keshigian was recently published in the Comstock Review, Smoky Quartz Anthology, California Quarterly, and Muddy River Review. His latest collections, What To Do With Intangibles, Into The Light, Dark Edges, are available through Amazon.  He has been nominated 7 times for a Pushcart Prize and 3 times for Best Of The Net. 

Persistent Daylight by Michael Keshigian

He was caught in an endless day,
persistent sunshine, no darkness,
a day that curdled green leaves falling,
rotting upon dried lawn
spotted with insects desiccated,
fragile carcasses littered
beneath the lessening shade of trees.
He walked between sagging sycamores,
crossing the street,
asphalt which singed his soles,
his face aglow, burnt to a crimson hue,
on his way to the river
where others must be waiting.
Soon he will swim under the soundless sun,
water easing his burns,
submerged in the cascading current
in order to survive this day without end,
dressed in a white shirt and shorts,
a luminosity that mimicked the sun
as he approached the shoreline
where the crowd swam,
he whispering how the sun became a threat,
that all will suffer then dry, so we must sing
before our remnant ashes disperse,
that an earnest song
will bear us wings to embark
on our journey from earth,
for due to our negligence,
the rules have changed
and our bodies can only go so far.

Michael Keshigian is the author of 14 poetry collections his latest, What To Do With Intangibles, published by Cyberwit.net. Most recent poems have appeared in Muddy River Review, Sierra Nevada Review, Bluepepper, San Pedro River Review, Tipton Poetry Journal. Published in numerous national and international journals, he has 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations.

The View From Stonedam Island by Michael Keshigian

Those nights illuminated by the moon
whose white dagger severed the wet surface,
highlighted the stalks upon Gypsy Glen
which stretched off the shoal
into the crooked air,
and the lake wore a tarnished chink
upon its silver armor.
Tall pines, stilled by the sheen,
waited till their presence
faded back to distorted disfigurements
to acknowledge the breeze.
The cold air was always crisp
and smelled of wild roses
that circled the shoreline,
exposed as the moon’s silver eye
adjusted its stare toward the brush
and patches of mulch
that gingerly caressed the lapping lake.
On nights such as these,
he would gaze at the cottages,
nesting beachside, their lights,
flickering in night’s magnificent isolation.
Little did he suspect
that this moment of adoration,
the opportunity to commune,
would become a longing
that would follow him.

Michael Keshigian is the author of 14 poetry collections his latest, What To Do With Intangibles, published by Cyberwit.net. Most recent poems have appeared in Muddy River Review, Bluepepper, Smoky Quartz, San Pedro River Review, Tipton Poetry Journal. Published in numerous national and international journals, he has 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations.

Suntan by Michael Keshigian

The orange-yellow face of the house

looks down upon him

like a wall of fire

as the distant solo song of a cardinal

floats above.

He closes his eyes

and a flame ignites beneath his lids.

In the dry light of the garden,

flowers sway to and fro

like small balloons in a breeze.

The stoic trees,

each engulfed by heated haze,

appear to be lost in sleep.

It is high noon

as he lays atop the grass,

daydreaming and at ease,

pretending, in this scorch of midday,

that the afterlife might be so kind.

Sunshine reddens his flesh.

Dampness from the sod beneath

penetrates his shirt.

He drifts and sweats,

knowing a night

will soon arrive

to absorb the sun’s red stain

and he will be destined

to walk the darkened path

invisibly.

Michael Keshigian, from Londonderry, NH, is the author of 14 poetry collections his latest, What To Do With Intangibles, published by Cyberwit.net. His most recent poems have appeared in Muddy River Review, Bluepepper, Smoky Quartz, San Pedro River Review, and Tipton Poetry Journal. He has been published in numerous national and international journals and has appeared as feature writer in twenty publications with 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. 

Dwindling Knight by Michael Keshigian

Life loomed large in childhood,

an acre, easily a mile, the apple tree, 

a spectacle of gigantic dimensions,

germinating fruit the size of melons

amid grass and wildflowers higher than a house

and alive with as much mystery 

as the imagination allowed,

infested with long legged creatures and flying predators,

confronted by a brave soldier, 

possessing stout heartiness,

armed with broken branch sword,

trash lid shield and brown bagged helmet gear

precisely slit for covert surveillance

against an enemy constantly plotting 

to overthrow the king, to rule the kingdom,

were it not for the worthy defender

daily engaging danger to insure security

and safe passage for those nesting 

within the domain,

though the threat diminished with passing years

as did the proportions to a mediocre backyard, 

displaying a frail fruit tree

in grass no taller than ankle height

with no visible reminders of intense conflicts.

The enemy had disappeared,

deployed, no doubt, to younger battlefields,

accompanied by the imagination 

now desperately clinging to creative output

to preserve a degree of youthful enthusiasm

for an aging warrior.

Michael Keshigian had his fourteenth poetry collection, What To Do With Intangibles, recently released in January, 2020 by Cyberwit.net.  He has been published in numerous national and international journals, recently including Pudding Magazine, Sierra Nevada Review, Oyez Review, Bluepepper, Tipton Poetry Journal, and has appeared as feature writer in twenty publications with 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. (michaelkeshigian.com)

Second Chances by Michael Keshigian

The ghost of his past

has come again to visit

and together they reminisce

while the sun shines a halo

around decisions once made.

What else might they do

but commiserate the outcomes?

The years have since camouflaged the path,

the remaining trail shortens.

He notices how the trees

are laden with leaves,

how the steam of summer stifles them

as sunlight dives like a dolphin

through the branches,

like his memory of events,

constantly pulling downward.

Thoughts float

through the gray matter

in his skull

as he dances with recollections,

smiling at those he once knew,

people he wronged

and those who wronged him.

He two-steps slowly from out

the murky maze of results,

back into the light

and the promise of renewal.

Redemption awaits.

Michael Keshigian had his fourteenth poetry collection, What To Do With Intangibles, recently released in January, 2020 by Cyberwit.net.  He has been published in numerous national and international journals and has appeared as feature writer in twenty publications with 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. (michaelkeshigian.com)

The Pleasure of Birds by Michael Keshigian

Early in life

we learned to love the birds,

their kingdom,

high in the treetops,

full of song and hope.

Their vibrant colors

and weightless lives

flash in the sunlight,

pierce the clouds

above the landscape

as well as the tallest buildings

we might erect.

They float like falling leaves

and call to each other

in times of frolic or danger

from those tiers

between the branches

and blazing brightness,

to soar then glide

about our homes, teasing us

with their airborne acrobatics

and lightheartedness,

almost poking fun

at our weighted dispositions,

chattering until we cease our admiration

in the dimming light

as the first breaths of darkness

evoke a silence

broken only by a rustling

in the dark shadows of trees.

Michael Keshigian had his fourteenth poetry collection, What To Do With Intangibles, released in January, 2020 by Cyberwit.net.  He has been published in numerous national and international journals, recently including Pudding Magazine, Sierra Nevada Review, Oyez Review, Bluepepper, Tipton Poetry Journal and has appeared as feature writer in twenty publications with 7 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. (michaelkeshigian.com)