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William Michaelian

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Tag Archive for ‘Oracles’

September 19, 2020 ∞

Oracle

O, Mirror, what shall I do with my face? Be kind. Seek grace. . [ 862 ]

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A Listening Thing
Among the Living and Other Stories
Another Song I Know
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Penny Thoughts and Photographs
Poems, Slightly Used
Primitive
Recently Banned Literature
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The Old Language
The Painting of You
The Smiling Eyes of Children
The Thing About Strawberries: 31 Dreams
Translations
Winter Poems

NOTA BENE

As a Category, “Everything and Nothing” is roughly equivalent to “Marginalia,” but with an added twist: it’s the name of a book written by Ross Freeman, the hero of my unpublished novel, The Smiling Eyes of Children.

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Small Flat Stone, Handpainted

A confident, nattily-dressed frog smoking a fat cigar, by Glen Ragsdale (1955-1974). Title: “Billy.” Signed by the artist. On granite, about half an inch thick, worn smooth by the Kings River in California.

The Old Language — 2013

Signature for the New Revised Edition.
Stories, Poems, and Memoir in Armenian Translation.

that which is left unsaid

From Primitive: Selected Drawings
in Pixel, Pencil & Pen
2010

Portrait by Laura Tedeschi (1968-2018)

“Lo Scrittore,” William Michaelian — 2010

At Echmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia

William Michaelian — Artist Unknown — 1982

Shelter

From Primitive: Selected Drawings
in Pixel, Pencil & Pen
2010

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Home
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Oracle
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Portrait by Cassandra LaMothe

William Michaelian — 2010

Portrait by Rahina

William Michaelian — 2010

Willie & Dad, 1970

William Saroyan & Albert Michaelian
Cousins at the family farm
Dinuba, California

My father’s mother, from the first page of one of my uncle’s photo albums. He took the picture. That’s his writing underneath.

My father’s brother at the old home place with one of his many hot rods before the second world war. (He did not come home.)

My mother’s father’s parents, Lars and Amanda Claus. Both were born in Sweden: Lars in 1849, Amanda in 1859.

A Question

“Would you want a heart that doesn’t break?”
September 6, 2011

Sacred Space

Our hometown library in the early days.
Built 1916. Demolished 1975.
How well I remember those tables and chairs.

Sacred Place

Our hometown library in the early days.
Built 1916. Demolished 1975.
My mother and I practically lived there in the 1960s.

The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson
Round Table Edition
(Ten Volumes)

New York : Henry T Thomas
(1893)

“The large paper edition is printed at the Norwood Press, on English hand-made paper, and is limited to five hundred copies, of which this is number 275.”

Signed by the printer, Berwick Smith.

The Works of George Eliot

The Works of George Eliot
Illustrated Cabinet Edition
(Twenty-Four Volumes)

New York : Merrill and Baker
(1895)

“This Edition, on Large Paper, With Extra Illustrations, is limited to Two Hundred Numbered Sets. No. 91.”

Anthology

English and American Verse
in Armenian Translation

Published in Yerevan in 2014,
this book includes nine of my poems
translated by Samvel Mkrtchyan (1959-2014).

Thinking of Puccini by Stasja Voluti

Thinking of Puccini

Titled, Signed, and Numbered C-Print
by Stasja Voluti
(Print 3 of 4)

A gift from the photographer
(2012)

Battered Library Copies, 1883

The writing in these books is priceless.

The Torch

“Recycled postcard” by Dutch artist Monica Croese
received in exchange for No Time to Cut My Hair
(2010)

The Great Reckoning

Untitled poem by Gary B. Fitzgerald
presented with my drawing, “Shelter.”
A gift from the poet in 2010.
(Measures approximately 9¾ x 22¾ inches)

Thanks for Everything

Whatever the trouble, whatever the challenge, whatever the grief, whatever the loss, whatever the seeming impossibility, I have found there is still one thing I can do, and that is, give thanks. And the blessing is, little by little, gratitude becomes a habit, an outlook, an abiding presence, a friend, and a guide. There is an old saying, but I have forgotten it. I give thanks for that too.

Recently Banned Literature, May 13, 2018