Happenstance of neighbors
at the playground
eager to play perhaps
prompted by the novelty
of recognizing slightly younger
and older versions of themselves
as kids one of them hides and
the other apparently seeks
that is of course walks by the tree
by turns then reluctant to hide
herself our child fatigued
returns to our kitchen
runs to us in the living room
saying Hi and then as fast runs
back to the kitchen speaking
all the while recreating as
it were the position of both
the hidden and the seeker
the way she asks when tired
to ascend the stairs “I pick you up”
knowing I will of course it’s me
she means so called proper
pronouns get learned around
the visible tree along the way
from one room to another
Tag: Parenting
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Hide and Peek
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Look
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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
-
Pop-Pop Loves Owls
Words are flowing out like
never before in this home
child runs the hallway
announcing every architecture
says let’s play piano or blocks
make a house turn on the light
up the stairs remembers
which room was Pop-Pop’s
now it is the room for her sleep
as we lullaby and story the day
she reminds herself and me
the stuffed animals on the shelf
were Pop-Pop’s favorite
she will keep the things
we already forget we pass on
and say them aloud again
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Best and Worst Feeling
Why is it both
the best feeling
and the worst
to see the look
of anguish if not
outright terror
on the face of
our child refusing
to be lullabied
to bed by mother
instead reaching out
to my arms in protest
only mollified when
molded into the shape
of my shoulders as
moments quieten
recounting the day
and whatever song
does not cause
a stretching neck
to say a certain no
until the sense
that whispering
the words back to bed
will be repeated
and I can let our child
down into the crib
resisting sullen sleep
until I leave the room
as mother downstairs
monitors our child
still in grainy video
fast if her figure is
identifiable at all
Joshua Keiter 