SEEKING SOLACE
by
Michael Keshigian
He remembers it
quite often,
the day he
launched his neighbor’s boat
from the shallow
dock on Tommy’s Cove,
to pursue
seclusion, navigating
toward Rattlesnake
Island,
centered in the
Broads, where the lake’s
deepest depths met
the wind
and became an
angry ocean.
Breakers splashed
suddenly
against the hull
and portside
as the subtle hum
of the motor modulated
into gasps of
heaving breaths,
the waves
hollowing beneath the boat
as the engine roar
rose, carrying off
toward the island
of tall, white pines
crusted with
lichen.
He maneuvered like
a meteor,
floating amid
flailing debris,
a dark star
drowning in a black hole,
a lonely place
where with only
his wit, he may prevail.
And then it
occurred
with his hands
locked upon the steering wheel,
he looked over the
starboard side and
beneath the
surface, guided by sunlight,
saw the water part
as a room appeared,
an illuminated,
wet grave
and for the first
time
he realized the
ultimate isolation,
the one clear place
given to be alone
and he was not yet
prepared.
Michael Keshigian is the author of 14 poetry collections, his
most recent, What to Do With Intangibles, from Cyberwit.net. His
work has appeared in numerous national and international journals as well as
many online publications, including California Quarterly, Chiron
Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, San Pedro River Review, Oak
Bend Review, and Sierra Nevada Review. He is a seven-time
Pushcart Prize and three-time Best Of The Net nominee.
