Of course once we
removed our masks
we had no choice
but to show our
horror in the face
of what happens
when we let our
forgotten guard down
these skirmishes
have been taking
place in a part of
the world we had
not remembered
was also in a way ours
to cover and to lose
Category: Poems
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MarPoWriMo 10
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MarPoWriMo 9
Imagine the rain
never stopping
nor increasing
its velocity
just perpetual mist
droplets escaping
indiscriminate clouds
pervasive overcast
contributing chill
to all existence
the thinnest of skins
exposed to elements
potential for flooding
puddles may be blood
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MarPoWriMo 8
Seems safe to say
the world is in this
offensive situation
because of the words
it could not say
not because not
enough people were
telling other people
what they could not say
who is to say
the world likes it this way
all things being unequal
nothing sovereign stays
everyone is gay
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MarPoWriMo 7
Cloud cover over
wind blown through open windows
temperatures plunge
lethargy relief
will we find an alternate
source of fuel before
burning to oblivion
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MarPoWriMo 6
If the world is in
a constant state of conflict
occasionally
alleviated
by a love story or two
time a process of
colorization
throngs from another era
try to board a train
that’s going nowhere
fast a trip into the past
which just keeps rushing
headlong into a future
that we cannot see
now love has no words
love just sits there witnessing
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MarPoWriMo 5
So far the spring has
mustered only a single
dandelion in
the back yard as grass
gathers green through the pavement
some blue and yellow
combined climb to the surface
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MarPoWriMo 4
Listless energy
staring at screens all day long
waiting for the news
to develop past
what we cannot determine
by scenarios
that should not happen
suddenly seem possible
if only in words
that keep appearing on screens
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MarPoWriMo 3
Of course it was
nineteen years ago
that the folly of war
was so obvious
on this auspicious date
of three threes
I organized a reading
which I discovered
on the nascent internet
going on all across
the country at least
of Lysistrata as a way
to protest what by
that point was inevitable
that shock and awe
in the face of scant
evidence for weapons
of mass distraction
could not be stopped
even biological imperatives
too slim a temptation
for seeing what untapped
power unleashed could do
of course it was nineteen
years later some idiot
full of sound and fury
thinks ineffectual weapons
directed at nuclear facilities
might accomplish something
then as now no one
but the readers showed up
to the reading it was
heard nonetheless
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MarPoWriMo 2
A story I heard
one time in middle school
a belief that dust motes
are departed souls
seemed plausible
that dust evolved
to see each other
standing apart together
illuminated by light
from an unidentifiable source
to place shaped ashes
on shining foreheads
to recall what we have been
and where we are going
between everything
so small and everywhere
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MarPoWriMo 1
On the screen
a coin-silver inkstand
oldest surviving artifact
of the House of Representatives
placed on the raised platform
of mysterious origins
three replacement silver inkwells
adorned on both sides
by swags and eagles
each foot of the tray has
a snake winding around it
representing unity and wisdom
tonight marks the first time
two women were seated
on the platform behind
the president during the speech
Joshua Keiter 