Whatever happens to
the years months weeks days
we never think about
they must have happened
and sometimes crawl to the surface
while we are unawares
like a PBS marathon
in the middle of the night
you stayed up to record on VHS
repeats worth watching again
even stay vigilant awake
to skip the pledge breaks
but fall asleep as they play
backwards and forwards in a loop
you never sit through anymore
somewhere in this world
everything happens at once
for the first time
and it goes unnoticed unremarked
but happens nonetheless
and we are there sleepy eyed
against the tide to witness
and adjust while
someone else drives the car
Category: Poems
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OctPoWriMo 21
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OctPoWriMo 20
Not getting used to
how everyone decided
this is normal
without consulting
the other side
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OctPoWriMo 19
Harvest moon
around the corner
just above the horizon
everyone slows down
as if surprised to find
something larger than their own ego
hanging there in the sky
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OctPoWriMo 18
The traffic restores a sense that we are
doomed already destined by our actions
to travel in a circle endlessly
the same distances we went yesterday
and will again tomorrow not today
it does not exist only a concept
never attained except by emptying
all thought and emotion to the flux of
our incapacity to imagine
any alternate routes that would bring us
outside of this noisy impatient loop
a beltway if you will bloated by time
until filibustered it collapses
stands stock still while the rest of them passes
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OctPoWriMo 17
The shift in seasons
forecast but unexpected
too sudden to leave
the windows open
for even one afternoon
we just opened them
moon more visible
moon took off their mask too soon
atmosphere undone
will it be colder
tomorrow or will today
keep on repeating
what makes a season
so long end so abruptly
like it wasn’t there
things staying in place
things no longer a result
of telling apart
this might be all that there is
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OctPoWriMo 16
Voices in my head
so much of my life and times
ringing in my brain
makes no sense at all
is what remains is what remains
on the edge of the
Hoover dam I am
I will stand guard over you
see a little light
I know you still care
hardly getting over it
I can’t change your mind
I apologize
all these sins I know so well
next generation
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OctPoWriMo 15
Categories change
words do not mean other words
except that they can
provide meaning to
those who don’t know what they mean
how mean people are
academies slip
slowly into the mainstream
ambiguity
applied to pages
labels are meant for canned food
sustenance to live
words only connect
with voices to intone them
we are who we are
what we owe to each other
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OctPoWriMo 14
How many stories will we remember
when there is finally no one to tell them
it may seem like you hear them forever
but they have always happened in the past
the future is persistently untold
and hair falls out before it gets too old
the distant sound outside just keeps ringing
at this late hour what could they be bringing
to bear upon the earth in solid air
the ground gives way to what was never there
memory is imperfect so it lasts
without beginnings there can be no end
who is there to whisper and to listen
what is lost and found is only missing
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OctPoWriMo 13
I thought we agreed
at least some of us agreed
or none of us did
society is
ridiculous and we should
not participate
some of us thought that
meant we should burn it all down
others just let them
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OctPoWriMo 12
One more day of clouds
before the next day of clouds
looked at from both sides
at the beginning
of the day and at the end
the sun breaking through
not enough for clarity
Joshua Keiter 