William Michaelian

Poems, Notes, and Drawings

Tag Archive for ‘Epitaphs’

Just As If

The tie you never wore, The pants too tight, too loose, Too long, too short to fit, And all the rest of it. Hello, madam. Good day, sir. My hat is off, my head is soft, My heart is just a blur. But I love you — yes, I love you, Just as if I were there And you were here. . [ 1588 ]

Continue Reading →

Butterflies and Bee Toes

Am I being vague? I don’t mean to be. I love words. And they love me. We’re naturally hesitant, wondering, each time we meet, who will be the first to speak. What should we mean? We aren’t nails hammered through wood. We’re more like butterflies, or bees with pollen on our toes. Documents? Manifestos? We laugh. We can’t all be bibles or epitaphs. Some of us must be free. Recently […]

Continue Reading →

Saved

The sound of rain. The blessèd certainty of it — think as I will, believe as I will, act as I will, the rain will fall on my grave, and that is a blessing too: a blessing to the stone, should I have one, a blessing to the soft green grass that grows over me. And for an epitaph, these two words will do: Listening. Still. May they describe you. […]

Continue Reading →

Opposites

Living shadows, and the solid dreams they cast — The cedar and the lamp post, the school boy and the cloud: The perfect shroud — as if Cain had smiled at Abel, And Abel — had wept — and bowed. . [ 904 ]

Continue Reading →