Visiting the Dead by Michael Keshigian

He contemplated writing a poem

about death, not in regards

to actual, personal loss,

but the public act of paying homage

especially to those he never knew,

never visited, some who never existed

until this final exit,

shuffled off to wakes and funerals

as a child, lifted to view

the corpse asleep (as it was explained),

at times, forced to touch, pray

and even kiss the hand

of strangers he, at the moment, just met.

So stunned, as he thinks back,

that he was subjected

and never had a choice,

that he now frowns upon the process

even for some he met earlier in life.

What was the point

since life had ceased to coax their paths

to crisscross, better to visit

the living than the dead

and that had not occurred.

But a suitable resolution was unattainable,

the repetitive childhood experience

manifested guilt in the adult

as he attempted

to set the words to paper,

but sensed feelings of conflict.

The sentences melted, ultimately,

upon the page, and dripped onto his desk,

shallow puddles wetting his sleeves,

the poem, a collection of damp paper towels.

Michael Keshigian’s thirteenth poetry collection, The Garden Of Summer was released April, 2019 by Flutter Press. He has been widely published in numerous national and international journals, recently including Red River Review, Wild Violet Magazine, Bluepepper, Muddy River Review, Smoky Quartz and has appeared as feature writer in over twenty publications with 6 Pushcart Prize and 2 Best Of The Net nominations. (michaelkeshigian.com)