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
Tag: Parenting
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It’s Fixed
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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
-
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
-
Haiku Maundy
Raising a PK
means staying at church all day
some weeks of the year
Have I taught her well?
She ignores the services
when she’s having fun
brings toys when needed
takes them up for communion
tonight washing hands
she just joins the line
cheerfully knows something good
waits at the altar
mostly mommy smiles
We walked around the building
during some down time
call from the window
she knew it was mommy there
inside her office
she looked up calling
responding can you hear me
I’m too high to reach
we went back inside
to mommy’s office surprised
not to see herself
outside down below
just the place where she had been
and a bit later
would be there again
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Parallel Play
One of us is learning
right from wrong
with imaginative media
telling stories that build
empathy and understanding
and self control
While the other is me
aware of too much doom
scrolling on my phone
wondering how it could be
so many missed the lessons
so many others strive to impart
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Spring Break Haiku
The ice cream truck tune
wafted through open windows
time to put on pants
Way too hot outside
for a day like this in spring
child requires a coat
Playground friends running
around the steps to the slide
pretend space voyage
What should dinner be
a pickle and an orange
wash them down with milk
Child circles stuffed cat
singing made up songs about
the way that words sound
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Benefit
One benefit of leaving
the TV idle until
the screensaver appears
flashing photos of days
gone by and our child
recognizing objects in them
and asking for them
is the same benefit of never
throwing anything away
to a point and retrieving them
from the basement
where the child never goes
anymore all of a sudden
is the same benefit of knowing
where you put everything
you never throw away
and finding those items
and more the child has not
played with for months
if not years can it be years
one benefit of years going by
is seeing the child somehow
knowing how to play with
those objects from the past
with developed dexterity
and fine motor movement
seeing play as if it were
new for the first time
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Nap Sleep
Relatively easy
to determine the causes
of fatigue
that brought my child
to my lap for the duration
of the service
Less easy to know
how to hold myself
with this being
whose size and shape
did not conform to my idea
of how big she would be
when people ask her now
how old she is
she sometimes says Bigger
which is what I often say
as if that explains how
already she is many
ages at once
ready to slink off to sleep
in my too weary arms
or run down the hallway
as if for a marathon
at what should be bedtime
or lulled by a Taizé tune
the same one we would sing
in her earliest nights
the voices in unison today
conducive in the way
she stayed asleep on my lap
I wanted to stay
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Same Place
Sitting a little shellshocked
as I realize the same place
where the child spent
almost ten hours
singing along and leading
her parents in song
running around the building
showing off her paper plate bunny
eating clementines for lunch
doing laps in the big and small rooms
watching a bit of VeggieTales
lying down on the couch
and insisting I stay on the floor
kicking around soccer balls
ping pong paddles
plastic baseball bats
and a foosball table
tucking a puppet dragon to bed
with the same blanket of
the aforementioned couch
having pizza and ice cream for dinner
before finally collapsing into the car
is the same place that the child
spent every possible minute this morning
kicking and screaming resisting
getting dressed leaving the house
going to the car listening to
anything to stay away from
Joshua Keiter 