by Michael Keshigian
In the cool fragrance
of Spring breath,
minute buds
and tender seeds awaken,
splashing trees
and barren landscape
to a verdure froth,
the fertile air of renewal,
invading the blue dome
well beyond the green arrows
of giant white pines.
The lingering snow melts,
awash with winter memories,
a river of arctic mornings,
frost bitten windshields,
and dangling icicles,
which, like transparent pens
of invisible ink,
scribble disappearing messages
upon the emerging sidewalk.
Michael Keshigian, from New Hampshire, had his twelfth poetry collection, Into The Light, released in April 2017 by Flutter Press. Published in numerous national and international journals including The Oyez Review, Red River Review, Sierra Nevada Review, Oklahoma Review, Chiron Review, he is a six-time Pushcart Prize and two-time Best Of The Net nominee. His poetry cycle, Lunar Images, set for Clarinet, Piano, Narrator, was premiered at Del Mar College in Texas. Subsequent performances occurred in Boston (Berklee College) and Moleto, Italy. Winter Moon, a poem set for Soprano and Piano, premiered in Boston. His website is michaelkeshigian.com.
Jeffrey C. Dickler, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was transplanted to the Midwest after his formative years. His love of the outdoors grew from summers at his grandfather’s Camp Iroquois on Frost Pond in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. By age four he already had hiked to the peak of Mount Monadnock. Later family trips to the American Southwest and National Parks cemented his love of exploring nature with a pack on his back and camera in hand. In 2017 he retired to the Monadnock region. He lives with his wife, Deni, and their four-legged companion, Willy Waggins, in Rindge, New Hampshire.
Smoky Quartz 