Time was looking
through the holes
of the climbing wall
each time seeing
the face on the other side
slightly change
but still recognized
uncontrollable laughter
residue of the big bang
these holes in the wall
keep multiplying
they follow us
throughout our days
every moment a window
into familiar or strange
what’s on the other
side will there be
laughter between us
over and over again
count to three eyes on me
eventually nothing is
left but full
Tag: NaPoWriMo
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Peek a Boo
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It’s Fixed
The large red cardboard blocks
lay strewn upon the carpet
after building them up
then knocking them down
along with some books
she had been throwing
then she placed the books neatly
lined up at the edges of
the blocks as if to repair them
“It’s fixed!” she exclaimed
as she pulled more books off
the shelves onto the waiting blocks
already she knows how to build
how to destroy
and what it will take to heal
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Yet Another Ice Cream Truck Haiku Sequence
Step out the front door
ice cream truck there already
think I know what’s next
walk right past the truck
bit of a surprise I guess
time for the playground
glad we showed restraint
how much ice cream is too much?
oh look here it comes
inevitable
now it’s only a question—
nope it’s chocolate
child grows a goatee
after only a few bites
this calls for a wipe
somehow the slides seem faster
-
Singing Lessons
Not sure if the screech
as we try to sing along
to a song on the radio
is meant to indicate
approval for our obvious
sophisticated voices
or a request for us
to tone it down as she
absorbs the melody
for herself to take in
perhaps she is not
even listening to us
and just presumes we
operate on a different
frequency and are trying
to distract her from
embodying the music
to suit her inclinations
every time she sings
it seems she needs less
someone to sing along with
so keep it under your breath
-
Sleep Deprived
I must be supremely sleep deprived
even though last night I exceeded
my sleep goal—one of the few
goals in my life that can be measured
by silicon resting on my wrist—
because all day long whenever
a thought passes through whether
in the present or the actual past
it seems to be interrupted by
a half memory of a dream state
imprinted as if on the water
of the mind before disappearing
until the next moment passes
even a brief blink of my eyelids
and I am back in a reverie
approximate reverse of waking
is it possible to live permanently
in a state of deja vu without ever
knowing precisely what you are
pre-experiencing? it is exhausting
living in such wobbliness must be
time to go back to bed already
-
Singer
At dinnertime our daughter
sings at the top of her lungs
not interested in food
or conversing with her audience
she sings many refrains
then refrains and sings them again
not sure if she’s showing off
all that she has accomplished
since the gathered crowd has last
assembled in our house a year ago
driving a day and a half
to be here for her almost birthday
and what do they get in return
such song such endless song
piercing the air with sweetness
what is dinner for but dessert
-
Run
Why so much running?
You run after preschool
in the church nursery
through strewn toys on the floor
You run with the neighbors
in an impromptu race
around the neighborhood
You run through songs
you’ve heard so many times
you make new words out of them
Daddy is tired just thinking about
how much you’re running mostly
because you take my hand and say
run with me Daddy and no matter
what I’m doing it is not as important
as running with you while I can
while we both still can although
I might take a short cut and walk
with bigger strides than you just
to conserve energy doesn’t matter
you still catch up to me and win
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Face Time
My mother says she no longer sees
me in my daughter
and I can sort of see what she means
some features that once resembled
me at that age
have been obscured by
features of my father or brothers
or grandmother
or aunts or uncles or cousins
and of course my mother herself
my daughter stares
back at the reflection of herself
in the corner of the screen
as she waves kisses
goodbye at the end of a facetime
sometimes I catch a screenshot
of them making
the same pose at the same time
later I’ll take a video just
to remember
what she was like at this time
and wonder what she’ll think
of herself back then
when she grows up and groans
at watching the family videos
which I’m sure
I’ll insist on from time to time
already she sees herself waving
in the screensaver
at herself she recognizes
all the faces she has been
as if everyone
who once lived that she might live
are still living
-
The Later Earth
Impossible to know
what it was like
to live through those times
except for the forethought
of placing stories
in vessels that would withstand
the massive destruction
which itself was the story
they were intent on telling
what else to do but bury
the stories in the earth
and trust that the living
would find and read them
under the trees
weeping
-
The Heart
The fork
the joke
the window
the ball
the shoebox
the book
the bird
the flower
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html
Joshua Keiter 