Whenever we remember
to tell the story now
potentially to our child
besides the impromptu
visits to Panera for
lukewarm half decaf coffee
and a walk to Chipotle
for more conversation
and salty chips
we can recollect
on our first date
the first words we exchanged
were: finally—as in
at last through whatever
prevented our meeting
happening until this moment
was out of the way
and all that was left
was all that we left
to wit: witness
how most of the day
just before another
anniversary we will spend
contemplating water
consisted of uninhibited
endless laughter
such that it made us
even in adjoining rooms
feel winded sighing
imagine this space
without this impossible
togetherness finding
itself at last finally
Categories
Sleep Regression
I have heard the term
in reference to our current
situation wherein the hours
that used to be filled
with silent sleep now
a torrent of fitful squalls
asking for more of what
might return her to a state
of perfect being whatever
that might be would that we
regress to a sleep as earth
in stillness welcomed
a pair of sojourners
at the point of desperation
the child laid in a trough
where beasts would feed
after such travail with ox
and asses baying even they
now sleeping could there be
at last some rest?
No says the child as starts
some inexplicable unsolicited
drumming in the background
here is a shout or three
just when you thought
there could be some sleep
this creature is there
barely within reach
to remind you only of what
makes us human after all
Categories
OctPoWriMo 30
Please forgive me if I begin to wax nostalgic for the early days of the pandemic back when it seemed as if people might learn to wash their hands as I stand in line at the third CVS of the day waiting for some medicine that might alleviate my child’s symptoms while I try to find another person who might be wearing a mask for any length of time even while demanding Theraflu for their soon to be flying family sometimes it seems all we wanted in those harried days of lack was to get back the worst aspects of ourselves and now they are in full throttle as the Christmas candies on display too early on the rack already disarrayed in the pharmacy aisle lying slack as a child points out one sits unpaid for destitute unwrapped
Categories
OctPoWriMo 24
Trying not to forget
as I forget
as the small picture appears
how small she appears
only a few months ago
when she was two months old
how different the face
in the same face
taking shape anew
a smile is a shape
I will always recognize
the heart the same size
growing as eyes
see you unknown anew
Categories
OctPoWriMo 23
Trying to make space
for all the gigabytes
on their way
to a new device
I started deleting
media I thought were only
cached in an instance
but lived in the cloud
turns out they weren’t
and for a brief moment
they were irreplaceable
until I remembered to open
another folder where my past
self already saved them
Categories
OctPoWriMo 16
Everything my daughter
needs to know
about the father
I would like to be
might be summarized
in the verse or two
of the hymn I could not sing
with her in my arms
stunned into teary silence
not by the words
but at the melody
included in the service
the day her parents found
hope in each other’s dreams
Categories
OctPoWriMo 9
We have noticed when reading a book she knows how it works how the pages turn a result of hands gesturing this way sometimes she pauses midway to see if it will fit in her mouth sometimes she just keeps the pages open that her hands might clutch or grasp the waves the air is making between print and eyes she knows the tactile form this all takes a part of herself waits holding
Categories
SeptHaikuWriMo 30
All day the forecast
when will yesterday’s storm hit
as if it were new
Categories
SeptPoWriMo 29
Now by the time
we can tell
by the little blue
screen not far
from our laps
if the not turning
around means asleep
we open our other
pocket screens
to view stages
unseen since we
took them in this one
she laughs more than
in this one where
she is half
the size she is now
we calculate
how much time
has passed between
how old we are now
how loose the skin
now rounded out
unrecognizable
from one to the next
except this is the face
we expect upon waking
to face us
smiling all traces
of replay erased
another moment
placed us in this
space between one
sleep and the next
how awake we may
say this is the place
we expected you
to grow into this face
glowing again
just to see us
see you giggling awakes
Categories
Dachshund Elegy
V
I had a vision
even before
they put them down
we would meet
again
as humanoids
or whatever
form
we will take
when we leave
the earth
in this vision
they recognize me first
perhaps in passing
we embrace
while one of us
says we loved
each other
and the other
perhaps without
consciously
saying it
says, I know
I know
I know
Joshua Keiter 