Nostalgically excited
in advance
for the fact of a preschool
Scholastic Book Fair
perhaps to provide
formative moments of
generational wonder
for our toddler
I am afraid the experience
of multiple tables
of books with interactive
elements embedded like
a camera and flashlight
not to mention
sensory delight such that
I thought was only possible
when seen retroactively
through the lens of
collective shared near
sugar high levels of bliss
at paper products so
generously arrayed
made her overwhelmed
lying on the floor
with her chosen book
grasped in hands
too tired from the regular
schedule of events
that to her senses even
before nostalgia arrives
in her mind was already
rather extraordinary
Tag: Parenting
-
Book Fair
-
Confirming
Without a doubt
the toys that were left
in a box
in the attic
unplayed with
for thirty years at least
when taken out
and sorted into
resemblances
once again
have the potential
to draw the attention
of a child who has never
seen them before
as well as one who has
and leave us both
rapt
-
Reciprocal
Divide the number of empty storefronts in my hometown
by the texture of the music shop where I bought my first drumsticks
that seemed like it had been there forever
and now will soon become a pet washing establishment
then
Divide the uninhabited islands that have been operating
at a trade deficit for centuries if not millennia apparently
by the number of penguins who might given enough time
and a typewriter devise a more coherent economic strategery
than the current administration
then
Divide the times my child has run down the hallway
of my childhood home into the arms of her grandmother
by the memories of myself at that age in the same house
running constantly through my head at any given moment
until the child and the parent and memory are one
bears repeating
-
Host
Disinterested in the service
she used to sit mesmerized
mostly at the lights streaming
specifically at her face
she might be getting hesitant
to share a space with so many
others there to partake in
a meal and communion together
she runs to the nursery where
covetous of donated toys
she insists on bringing home
from time to time she eats
a pickle and chocolate chip
cookie asking for another
we have to go back to
the dining room I say
suddenly uninhibited by shyness
she runs for the second cookie
and finds her mother to sit
by her side just in time for
prayer she knows to place
her hands together not just
in thanks or saying grace
not even to imitate these faces
bowed with closed eyes I know
she keeps her eyes open
repeating most of the words
to the prayer we haven’t even
specifically taught her to know
I remember being the shyness
of her age myself somehow
I don’t remember this openness
that makes me realize this ritual
probably does not come from
without or even a mirror of
what we think we should obey
there is a sweetness and we seem
to know where it comes from
we run to the room and our
bodies know how to do the rest
-
Hide and Seek
Nothing
prepared us
although in
retrospect I
might have
guessed
the cutest
phrase from
her mouth
would be
READYORNOT
HEREICOME
-
Too Fast
Looking at photos from almost
a year ago knowing how much
you’ve grown how much
you will grow how many moments
between the ones we remember
to capture the ones we don’t
see with our own eyes the only
conclusion I’ve reached is that
you’re growing too fast
there is no way to keep up with
the changes we witness and adjust
to every day the words to the songs
we half know in the morning
some harmonic resurgence
that cannot be explained by
the songs we all know to sing
together that somehow all scan
to Twinkle Twinkle ABCs all
of a sudden I see you seeing
Mister Rogers at the piano you go
from your thumb in your mouth
to arms outstretched admonishing me
to put down the unreflective glass
between my thumbs and please
dance with me daddy so I stand
and we dance around and around
to the music for awhile sometimes
slow and sometimes fast and I think
I can’t take a picture my hands are full
tonight I sang a song I don’t think
I’ve sung since the days when Pop-Pop
was dying days you cannot possibly
remember but the song you do remember
I’m being followed by a Moonshadow
you sing along you remember that song
Pop-Pop loved that song you echo
in my arms it all goes too fast and soon
you are fast asleep in my arms at last
-
Puddle Sand
Summer so dry
the child had not discovered
a rain puddle until today
Even now the only one left
on this block as droplets
evaporate in the pavement
Static clouds overhead
keep us outside
she tramps the small
Collection of molecules
until they disperse
along with the leavings
Of trees punctuating
her hand motion
through the puddle
She might stay all day
is what I’m thinking
as we recall together
The day’s happenings
she repeats the refrain
what did we do today
I punctuate each moment
sometimes with a kiss
as between verses
Of a song she sometimes
does not want to end
I want her to remember
So many kisses
she thinks of them as
numerous as grains of sand
That shift and settle
punctuating the ocean
part of the water the same
-
At Lunch Today
While recording the world’s most hilarious
video of a toddler at their highchair
in the known universe I marveled at
the facial recognition software pre installed
that allowed us to volley wow faces
and giggles in an ad hoc infinite
loop that might have gone on forever you
didn’t even abruptly announce all done
we traded grimaces side eyes smiles and oohs
like we invented them no idea what prompted
such an improvisatory outpouring of emotion
must have just been in the mood to let it out
all the mirror exercises peek a boomerang
toomerang soomerang all laugh & laugh again
Joshua Keiter 