New Poetry by Michael Keshigian

No Longer a Garden

 

The following year

he decided not to tend the garden,

for how might he watch

the hummingbird hover to drink

the pristine nectar,

its beak impaled,

whirring and sipping

from sweetness she planted 

so long ago.

Let the weeds rise

wild and thick

where perennials once stalked,

where the annuals

she would have planted

might ingest the sunlight

and flourish,

where she would stand

to admire

the fruit of her efforts,

peonies, roses

and bouncing blue hydrangeas,

tilting with the wind,

ornaments between

the painted patio blocks

she arranged in unique designs,

where the moss now grows

and mildew creeps

to turn the stones green

with a slime

as they will finally

rest in peace.

- © Michael Keshigian 2022

Michael Keshigian 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, Smoky Quartz, San Pedro River Review, 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.