New Poetry by Michael Keshigian

Music Appreciation

He asked them

to take the music outside,

listen as they held it toward the sky,

let the wind rattle its stems,

or place the sheet against an ear

to hear a tune

through the hollow of its shell.

He told them to jog

the parameters of the staves,

walk the winding road of its clef

and imagine living there.

Perhaps they could drop a feather

upon the music’s resonance,

follow its float among the timbres,

or ski the slopes of musical peaks,

gliding unencumbered into its valleys,

then thank the composer

for varying the landscape

when they left the lodge.

But the class was determined

to stalk each phrase,

analyze chords for manipulation, cunning

and seek the hidden form.

They handcuffed the notes

to the music stand,

even flogged the melody

with a drum mallet,

until it whistled a meaning

never intended.

- Michael Keshigian 2011

Michael Keshigian’s seventh poetry chapbook, Wildflowers, was recently released this Fall 2011 by Flutter Press. He has been widely published in numerous national and international journals and appeared as feature writer in over a dozen publications. Recently, his collection of poems entitled Lunar Images, was set to music for Clarinet, Piano, and Narrator by Boston composer Dennis Leclaire and premiered at Del Mar College in Texas on November 5, 2010. A Boston premier took place on March 7, 2011 at the Berklee College of Music and a September 2011 performance occurred in Moleto, Italy. (michaelkeshigian.com)