Before I let go
with both hands behind my back
let me just say this:
The question is not
whether the rock can contain
an abandoned life
But if life escapes
the rock—to languish and thrive
in labor and toil
Outside of the gate
separating atmosphere
from lack of presence
Who is then to say
the world is not so unmade
that we should control
To shape and tinker
designing what is without
design—such as this
Mountain put aside
for the sake of a new road
same as the old road
In that it traversed
the same path thru the empty
landscape abandoned
After extracting
all natural resources
and since become things
Long returned to ground
and far below the old bridge
beside the new bridge
Which cannot return
to rock—for they have begun
the demolition
No longer a thing
discarded it can return
to its destiny
Prefabricated
before we took liberty
to undo our birth
Wondering who could
have designed this strange nonsense—
so much to improve
We don’t have the time.
Joshua Keiter 