What is time? These finely crafted, imaginative poems weave fleeting encounters, centuries-long love stories, lingering grudges, and moments of unexpected clarity into a surreal cloth grounded in verisimilitude. Time's myriad possibilities come to life as historical figures, both real and fictional, face a changing landscape of memory, longing, and desire. Minassian's vital narrative voice, tempered by compassion and a subtle humor proves a trustworthy guide as characters are drawn to consider if the past is ever truly gone. Other poems in the collection deal with heartache, family, and regret as the reader confronts the same questions: Does the past matter? Does history matter? And how much of reality is composed by the narratives we tell ourselves? This collection dares the reader to reconsider time itself and to discover answers along the way.
Michael Minassian is a retired English Professor and spends his time writing, taking photographs, and traveling with his wife both in the U.S. and overseas. He was born in New York City and grew up in New York and New Jersey. In addition to living in Florida, California, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Texas, he has lived and taught overseas in England, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. He earned a BA in Political Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and MA in English with a Certificate in Creative Writing at California State University at Dominguez Hills. For over 30 years he was a member of the English Department at Broward College in South Florida, where he was the Director of an annual Screenwriting Film Festival and also wrote and produced the podcast series "Eye on Literature." In addition, he studied and served as guest tutor for ten years at Cambridge University's Summer Study Program in the UK. He is currently a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His publications include three poetry chapbooks, one photography chapbook, and 1,000 Pieces of Time is his fourth full-length collection of poems. For more information visit: https: //michaelminassian.com
