What if we have run
completely out
of novelty
a world without war
or hundred year floods
or bodily autonomy
a boiling frog
only learns it is water
with remnants of memory
to know it might not
have been this way
driving into flood waters
from the vantage of a basement
Category: Poems
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SeptPoWriMo 1
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AugPoWriMo 31
The first day of school
photos in my feed
will just not stop
nor will I let them
I insist on every flick
of my wrist another
half masked reveler
in their chalkboard attire
proclaiming their faith
in attainable goals like
moving back and forth
between one room to
the next and home again
within the same circle
of almost nearly friends
sharing ideas and air
not squares filled in
by some faceless study
of how shambolic this
whole enterprise became
how we in our infinite
wisdom lead lambs to
laughter hoping in our
second language classes
the s pronounced is silent
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AugPoWriMo 30
No one wants to live
after the end of the story
of a story with no ending
much better to be
in the middle of things
where nothing much happens
in expectation of when
all the puzzle pieces fit
into a much larger puzzle
no one will ever take the time
to find out if it really was
part of the same picture
we never get around to seeing
having been bound to this
corner of the universe
collecting all these endings
that for all we know
never began to begin with
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AugPoWriMo 29
True friends:
Upon hearing the verse
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands.
You both clapped your hands.
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AugPoWriMo 28
The National Mall today
was mostly not empty
as we weaved between
museums searching for shade
from the overbearing sun
the partitions still in place
a house that changed perspectives
as you divided your attention
over the expanse of mown green
too far to hold in the frame
visitors in identical shirts
carrying signs with sayings
that might save the republic
if only we could follow them
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AugPoWriMo 27
Imagine arriving
in a country
as a refugee
having evacuated
from a place that
was no longer home
and the first news story
you hear is how
many people will
soon be evicted
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AugPoWriMo 26
Change the risk calculus
best of circumstances
what constitutes safety
host of cognitive biases
yanked in either direction
increased transmissibility
gauging the safety of a situation
unfortunately evolving
no accurate denominator
decreased vaccine effectiveness
forgoing comes with its own dangers
internal math so much trickier
an abundance of caution
publish a shruggy emoji
roller coaster of risk assessment
periods of confusion are natural
tired of self-abnegating
continue to control whichever
straightforward variables you can
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AugPoWriMo 25
How to know when
the past became the past
if you think it might
have happened that way
you remember it like
it was yesterday
even though you cannot
recreate the impossible
once passed it is gone
take a look back and see
the only point is now
you gotta keep hanging on
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AugPoWriMo 24
The TV musical
loses all perspective
when the performers
break into song
and dance as if
they cannot be bound
to the aspect ratio
of the screen
this is how we change:
carry the message
from one dimension
to another
next thing you know
the song is in your head
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AugPoWriMo 23
An earthquake is appearing
in some people’s memories
a decade ago we expected
random catastrophic events
at least less frequently
which is why some of us
thought maybe a car backfired?
monuments still need repair
though the scaffolding
still there is just for show
Joshua Keiter 