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Penitentiary
Awakened by a clap of thunder
and a sense of duty, he peered
through the blinds
at the thick pewter clouds
that swallowed the sky,
the containment wall of time,
relegating him to the toil of obligation,
morning rituals followed by a walk in step
with the other inmates toward the yard
where he will be compelled
to exploit expertise for survival.
His link in the chain gang
is education, reading books
only to disseminate their contents
to the younger detainees,
though, at times, admits
to knowing less the more he ingests.
Still, they call him teacher,
for he attempts to unlock
the steel door for a view
beyond the buttress of daily life,
a warden of sorts
in a prison without locks
where he implores the inmates
to deviate toward the realm of imagination
as he once did and risk escape
from monetary intimidations
into freedom and expression
by opening the door
to witness the euphoria of discovery
buried between the breeze and blue sky
before it slams shut
and the sentence is implemented.
Michael Keshigian's poetry collection, Eagle’s Perch, was recently released by Bellowing Ark Press. Published chapbooks: Wildflowers, Jazz Face, Warm Summer Memories, Silent Poems, Seeking Solace, Dwindling Knight, Translucent View. Published in numerous national and international journals, he has multiple Pushcart Prize and 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 and Moleto, Italy. Weeb Site
Email: Michael Keshigian
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