To think that these pictures
capture the same creature
sleeping in the other room
at a recent previously
appointed point in time
aging apparently at the same rate
as these tired maybe middle aged
faces growing younger all the time
a match for that slight inflection
the world not quite as it was
when you arrived even better
now we know how much improved
it will be having you in it
evidence our souls met your spirit
In these waning days
when I might claim the age of
forty two let me
say without a doubt
there is something to be said
for a number to impart
the answer to life
the universe and everything
a collection of cells
congregating in
the semblance of a response
smiling tongues ululate
knowing ‘I love you’
is what we were meant to say
recognizing faces
as who we once were
who we may one day hope to be
No accounting for
how vivid my dreams have been
except for keeping
the blinds closed all day
makes the house a bit cooler
no other way to
let the light in but
flying to other countries
visit museums
from the vantage of my mind
where else is there to go now
Find someone who looks
at you the way my baby
takes a look at her
super high contrast board book
What if dreams are just
ways whoever put us here
tries to interpret
all the things we do while we
forget who we are with them
Heat apocalypse
perhaps the least disturbing
headline this timeline
we just learned that we are frogs
we knew that we were boiling
How much easier
to remember
your preverbal
existence
how else recognize
that cooing from
sights and sounds
familiar unknown
best respond with
your own
who knows how
to react instinct
if not built in then
part of the line
I subscribe
to the scientific belief
that the instrument
beaming back images
with newly discovered
billion year old clarity
are only reflecting
the conditions
that made it possible
for me to take a snap
to capture the cat
stretching goodnight
at your general direction
in the bassinet
Anybody else
look at the map
of states that have
banned abortion
and imagine they
make America look
like a dirty diaper?
Just me?
A simple checkup
with shots
betrays the faulty evergreen
of consciousness
you mean she weighs as much
as the cats?
Why just yesterday
we went to Target for sleepwear
she has now outgrown
even that a few weeks ago now
you can feel the acceleration
as the weeks shorten
daylight past its pinnacle
we barely punctuate with
sighs too deep for words
just the recognition
she grows into smiles
and occasional grimaces
that will only deepen
as we stay younger than we think
watching the reflection age us
Joshua Keiter