Screen time today such as
it was involved letting
the Apple TV fall asleep
to initiate the screensaver
of recent activity in our
photo albums that mostly
concerned capturing our
child in various states of
having faces to which we
can only reply (by we I mean
mostly me) just look at that face
this is that face our child
may be taking after us
calling out to every object
in her vision this is that
object and this is another
and this is something else
the only one of its kind
in the whole world like it just look
Tag: NaPoWriMo
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Look
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Cleaning Up
Twinge of shame
as I survey the kitchen
there’s less to clean up
happy for a night without
yogurt and crumbs
in hidden crevices
sad our kid still under
the weather eating
and playing less
while teeth move in
however temporary
we might need to help
brush them for another
ten years or so must be
plenty of slow nights
still on their way
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Cutting Molars
Know something is wrong
when the child refuses food
feels warm to the touch
Not quite feverish
a lot more low energy
stays in daddy’s arms
What to do? Should we
rely on pain relievers?
Go to urgent care?
Lucid moments show
the child is more talkative
when she wants to be
More teeth means more words
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Beforecast
Weather clear starts
to remind me of
the atmosphere
I could feel when we
first came home
with our child
we left the house as two
and returned
as three
the grass was greener
the trees were fuller
than before
a comfort to know
the feeling returns
every year
as long as it does
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Vocabulary
The words our child
exclaims most confidently
are often the words
we least understand
Crayon? Care? Cairn?
Crane? Crone? Corn?
Core? Crate? Crave?
Corona? Carry? Crying?
Sometimes with investigation
we identify the word
from a song and even
adjust lullaby time accordingly
Sometimes we catch ourselves
saying the word in context
which our child must have
mimicked successfully
Sometimes we wonder if
our child is just parroting us
and sometimes we know
she is creating her own language
as all of us take care to do
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You May Be Right
It is probably true
in fact it is most
certainly true
having a child
brings you back to
your childhood
in sharper relief
see that pop star
playing the garden
for the hundredth time
songs you used to
carry with you
in cassette form
to elementary school
the first music
you called your own
turns out thousands
felt much the same
some much younger
than you sing along
since you know how
they feel you know
I may be crazy
how to pass it along
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Talks About Music
Still growing cautious
of introducing our child
to cultural artifacts we know
are unrecoverable, even as
I scour the library book sale
for a second day searching for
what I remember. What will
we do when she becomes
so attached to them she wants
to meet them, hug them
in a full spontaneous embrace
as when the six year old pianist
Niki Hoeller was so overwhelmed
by meeting Mister Rogers
and playing for his television
neighbors and operating trolley,
Niki needed to hug Mister Rogers,
however awkwardly, upon leaving.
Or when in the very next visit
Mister Rogers himself so overcome
with the emotion of Yo-Yo Ma
playing the cello he felt the same
impulse to embrace the musician.
I remember what might have been
a created memory, a cassette tape
of my brother meeting Mister Rogers
and saying “I love you” to him
and Mister Rogers saying the same
in reply. I have no idea if such
a cassette even exists in our history
or if I may have witnessed
such an occurrence on TV
and transposed the moment
as familial. Our child now sings
Mister Rogers songs in a medley
of her own making, letting one word
prompt her to another song
with the same word. Little wonder
then when she gives us a big hug
we are grateful at our meeting.
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Bedtime Routine
The child has gotten into
the habit of asking
for a full account of
what happened each day
as part of the process
of getting ready for sleep
sometimes long after
sleep should have arrived
inevitably I revise myself
as I go through the morning
routine playtime lunch nap
walk playground neighbors
dinner sometimes bath
and the protracted lurching
towards something that
resembles bed readiness
tiny moments my mind
somehow recollects even
as I lull at least myself
to sleep with song
today for instance I forgot
to mention how we stopped
on the way out of the library
for a new slate of board books
to appreciate the statue of
a book emblazed with hearts
each one uniquely illustrated
with shapes she recognized
reviewing my camera roll
I wondered how I might have
recounted such a moment
that she should remember
the shape of books and hearts
finding their place within them
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Theatre Hiatus
So many aspects of life
I spent years trying to recover
extended hiatus all part of the job
seeing productions take the stage
fleeting photos on social media
disjuncture of feeling left out
and having no idea how I would
manage to memorize lines let alone
audition in this bedraggled state
of course another life takes place
in absentia the child now performs
songs complete with their motions
before the probably on too long TV
I capture with my camera anticipating
the feeling of her first performance
I am increasingly convinced will occur
sooner rather than later as opposed
to my return to the stage I have no
desire to attempt at all any time soon
so many lines to attend to
so much unrepeatable rehearsal
as the song plays again and again
Joshua Keiter 