If nothing else
let this day be remembered
for upon the uncomfortable
fitfulness of nap time
interrupted by cries
irresistible to human ears
attached to my cranium
I picked up the child
who let me become acquainted
for an hour or so with
the personification of sleep
which I in my infinite wisdom
accepted as did the cat
who insisted on joining us on my lap
-
Growing Teeth
-
After an Evening of Watching Genealogical Programs on PBS
Delayed recognition
for decades if not centuries
to know someone you know
possesses the only story
and can answer questions
the answers don’t even know
how likely it is to have
the chances for long life
in the cantor of a song
who knows where the words
came from or where they go
in the hearing a silence
that may happen again
the last living memory
was once yet to be born
and laughs at the thought
of remembering many things
many many things
-
Haiku Day
Deciphering words
out of the babble we hear
what we think are words
Reacting to trees
how they appear different
the more you see them
Perhaps like they did
the first time we walked with her
could she remember
Face of practiced awe
who are we to interrupt
the pace of rapture
With our semantics
is she responding or just
accommodating
Language we provide
shaping the eternity
from which she springs forth
To fit a design
we can barely respond to
with a halting yes
-
Nap State of Mind
Starting to think the child
is already picking up
my worst habits
like staying up too late
for no real reason
except in this case
it’s the middle of the day
and a nap that need not
be abandoned yet
that will no doubt affect
the rest of the day such
as it is with little rest
until eyes so tired
they won’t let sleep arrive
might need to stay up
a little later to describe it
-
Attachment Theory
Begins with maybe crying
for a minute when not
so long ago sleep came
without a second thought
Occasionally crawling
into distracted arms
for the presence lacking
momentarily
I’ve not been tracking
each independent milestone
except when the obvious
becomes apparent
The truth is each child
will let you know
their own mind
when they want to
They somehow know
saying goodbye
is the habit of a lifetime
and can wait
a little longer
-
111
It’s been so long since
we’ve been able to say
we expect you to
outlive us all someday
when I recognize
the mischievous smile
in my child’s face
I know you have
probably a falsehood
to say you won’t meet
have any of us not
met the mystery?
in the next century
we may find ourselves
outliving what we
could not see
easy to say it goes by
in the blink of an eye
if I close them
it seems much longer
one glance at the stars
a prayer perhaps
you are looking back at us
eternity collapsed
there you are in the photograph
great grandchildren laugh
-
Or a Color
Remembering that brief moment
when I was a child
that I thought before the advent
of color photography
the entire world consisted
of black and white
which made sense to my mind
since that was how the time
was consistently rendered
and the figures you encountered
staring back at you lifeless and gray
could only ever have existed
in that state.
Our child may never have that impression
although her favorite book remains
an accordion of black and white images
the sheer accumulation of pictures
we have taken of her if they survive
whatever file format regression
awaits us in the near future
will convince her of the technicolor
regularity of her presence even
before consciousness coagulated
into the knowledge of things
existing apart from their representation
how much she already recognizes
an image in these pixels although
to her they may only be pixels
no doubt she knows their omnipresence
in all our lives reinforces their hues
all along this vast spectrum
dividing the one light into
constituent parts.
-
Factor of Wow
At this point the position
of awe
has become her face’s default
even when encountering
something expected
in a mirror or hallway
the cats flashing their tails
during story time
a page followed by another
page ensuing in examination
of the spine
inspecting the collocation
as a matter of course
some books stay
open even when they close
their memory imprinted
like creases
increasing on either cheek
evidence of how
sometimes
the only response to suddenly
being alive is wow
-
Open Houses
All day the house
with open windows
at the mercy of
mowers passing by
bringing their noise
disturbing my child
at the point of sleep
also the scent unheard of
for many months if not
more—how smell is
the seat of memory
bringing these other
houses into focus for
a moment which after
all is all we have
why not spend the loveliest
day we have had so far
in thrall to nostalgia
that is not even lost
witness how a day alive
is one day more to remember
the smell of a house
cut grass and wood shards
splinters of the past
at the edge of identified
blurry at the circumference
but dangling ever so
persistently in my lungs
-
First Drafts
A little bit tired
of realizing time
accumulates whether
you want it or not
an improvement
to be sure on
the alternative
but dispiriting
to know the youth
you used to know
is still as young
as it ever was
only now it was
so long ago
you have trouble
keeping up with
the changes that happen
in the interim
at least it all gets
written on eternity
who knows where it ends
despite longevity
the paragraph not even
indented yet
Joshua Keiter 