Methods of Repair, Micro Poems by Michael Keith

 

Michael C. Keith

Methods of Repair, Micro Poems

Scantic Books

Methods of Repair © Copyright 2025

By Michael C. Keith

ISBN 979-8-9913229-1-1

165 pages, softbound, No Price Given

Review by Zvi A. Sesling

Michael C. Keith is an extremely accomplished author. His resume includes more than two dozen books on electronic media, a memoir, a young adult novel and twenty-nine story collections. And now, Methods of Repair, Micro Poems.

Although it is a departure from his normal prose efforts, Keith has hit a homerun with his micro poems. First is the wonderfully eclectic cover by his late wife, Susanne Riette. Next are the poems themselves which reflect Keith’s sense of humor as in

Ties That Bind

Shoe laces have

low regard for Velcro

and almost total

contempt for loafers

Then there is a view of marriage that many people, male and female must heed :

My Third Divorce

The first two were better.

Or if you are looking for some humor about poetry:

Keith, who has read and knows many poets, both famous and unknown is in an excellent position to know the fairness of the poetic scene.

Who Said the World is Not Fair?

There are as many great unknown poets

as there are great well-known poets

Of course

A Liar at Confession

Bless me Father

for I have not

sinned.

-2-

Even death can bring a bizarre approach in which Keith and his readers will find a comical viewpoint thanks to a few feet of snow:

Blizzard of ‘78

Snow piled so high

Corpses were nine feet

Under.

Conundrums are a familiar format to Keith as we can see in his puzzle of the limb and the head.

Which?

The

tree limb

fell

on his

head

and it

broke.

The title poem Methods of Repair

A freon leak

in our a/c

we sit under it

to keep cool.

In addition to humor Keith is a keen observer of what might be overlooked, yet obvious once noted. Take for example

The Great Plains of Western Kansas:

Where he could set his GPS

for nowhere and get there.

Whoever Keith is referring to does not wish to be in Kansas anymore. And the GPS replaces Dorothy’s tornado which transports her out of the plains and farmlands of Kansas to a faraway dreamland.

Or remember that ultra-thin paper they used in typewriters that was often required in college or corporate reports:

-3-

Copy?

Onionskin

isn’t made

from onions

or skin.

Affection Goes the Way of Daylight

Thought about friends

I had long ago.

Were very special to me

back then.

Don’t care to see them

anymore.

The final poem is perhaps the truest of Keith, for me and for many people. We all move on from rascals, liars, cheaters, criminals, girlfriends, boyfriends, ex-spouses, even relatives. Everyone changes, outgrows others and moves on. Even then there might another set of forget thems and how many times that occurs is dependent on each individual. As Keith infers, there can be new people who are special to him, but who he may forget about in the future.

All in all, Michael C. Keith has authored a book of micro poetry that encompasses humor, observation and seriousness. In fact, the subtext to all of his micro poems are sober reflections of his personal thoughts and experiences.

I was thoroughly engulfed in Keith’s poems and viewpoints and recommend them both for their creative writings and as prompts for your own writing.