about the author
Michael Keshigian is the author of five poetry chapbooks. His sixth collection, Jazz Face, is currently in
publication with Big Table Publishing Co. A release date early this spring is expected. His poetry has appeared in numerous national and international journals as well as many online publications, including California Quarterly, Avocet, Tipton Poetry Journal, Jerry Jazz Musician, Oak Bend Review, and Ibbetson Street Press. He has
been a feature writer for The Aurorean, Poetree Magazine, Chantarelle’s Notebook, Bellowing Ark, Pegasus Review, The Illogical Muse, interviewed by Boston Literary Magazine and Reader’s Choice in the Fairfield Review. He is a multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee.
∧
font size
∨
Loneliness Motel
Michael Keshigian
His little hole in the Boston skyline,
one window lined with soot
facing Fenway Park.
In the room overhead,
there was a clarinet
that stalked Stravinsky’s Three Pieces
every evening.
During the day it was mostly quiet,
the crowd on the sidewalks
resembled the spiders in the room,
preying with thick overcoats
to catch the unsuspecting
in a web woven with smog
dimly illuminated with the little light
that penetrated the building alleys,
so dark, he could only shave
with a lamp in his face.
Every morning at 7:30 a.m.,
students clamored on the staircase,
rushing en route to classes
at the universities
and colleges around the corner,
the clarinet player would flush the toilet
then turn on the shower.
Once in a while, a bird
chirped or tweeted, like a bell chime,
so close to his door,
for a moment, he believed
he had a visitor.