Joshua Keiter

Why does a slight change in temperature
make us race outside to frolic in grass 
still yellow not trimmed in almost three months
Christmas trees and lights stand in disarray
could the soil be evidence of planting 
green shoots arriving too soon or too late 
to avoid the cold snap around the bend 
each winter as long as I remember 
has an unseasonable patch of warmth
how far above average can we reach
until we concede a new average
disoriented in exuberance 
seasons will no longer have a meaning 
just open space that we should be cleaning

Who among us has not flushed important 
documents down the toilet or tried to
by accident of course jamming the course 
of justice before rounding the u-bend
for all we know they might still be stuck there 
past the point they could be taped together 
or amended using magic marker
to demarcate the true path the storm took
straight into the shitter we knew it would
no forecast needed media email
server deserves front page coverage though
what could obstruction of justice entail
that won’t be observed beyond page 15
they say who they are report what they mean

When all paths are blocked don’t be so sure that 
the path not taken isn’t blocked as well
maybe regret is a component of 
retreat backing away from the silence 
of wondering which way is the right way
when there is no way of knowing despite
all evidence just to the contrary
surely letting go of all volition
is a sure recipe for disaster 
never knowing what could be the future 
stuck in some sad resemblance of the past 
spinning infinite threads to the present 
following you through bad decisions made 
by some version of yourself you can’t save

On the way to work listened to podcast 
about book banning throughout history 
on the way home talk of the politics
of misinformation gaining more speed 
everything that seems novel has a past
if only we can train our sights to see 
the problem is the past is not the past 
the present more an accumulation 
we cannot dig ourselves out from under 
the only way we can look back is through 
the ruins we navigate every day
background radiation humming backwards 
trying to avoid potholes in the road 
they show up every year no matter what

Waiting all night for the show to begin 
we have no clue what will disappoint more
the fact that time is wasted or that time
exists as a concept we still aren’t sure 
is real as evidenced by what happened 
to the rest of this day last I recalled 
it was this morning while I was cleaning
the cat boxes the cat sat on the chair 
they sit in when it is time for breakfast
and I discouraged that way of thinking
although I could not be sure it was not
time for breakfast what is a morning for
but to relinquish the dreams of nighttime 
for day we think we know is not a dream

Planning on medaling in the event 
I realize how many Olympics
I have been alive for and remember 
and equally the many I forget 
by way of not watching them at the time  
looking back it is not uncommon for 
me to take at least four years for granted
while at the same time the third grade me sits
at the Apple IIe figuring out 
that J and K mean left and right while I
and M move up and down the hot dog or
biathlon or bobsled winter games in 
8-bit graphics or maybe Canada
three decades ago seems like yesterday