Already lost track
of the days I was counting
on losing—practice
for when the days are
inherently lost to grief
anniversaries
we spend all day long
forgetting to celebrate
how many losses
can we hold before
we pass averting our eyes
the hallways too long
the faces too familiar
-
JanPoWriMo 9
-
JanPoWriMo 8
I’ll always associate
David Bowie’s death
with looking up
into the night sky
and a field full of stars
thinking they were souls
departed and glowing
like snow at the end
of the VHS tape
down in space
it’s always 1982
when I looked up again
the sky was black
the stars still there
invisible breath promise
be kind rewind
we should be on by now
-
JanPoWriMo 7
All of winter fell
in the span of just one week
what did you expect
we have been so sparse
might as well accumulate
while no one’s looking
-
JanPoWriMo 6
Feeling of evil
descending like
a building
encroaching into
darkness smoke
evidence of flame
foot against a door
praying it would
not break in
by the grace of
it didn’t—now
speech in the hall
says without naming
who should be
removed from thoughts
building the same
feeling unfounded
defeated former lost
-
JanPoWriMo 5
Never underestimate
the power of a year
passing with little more
than dread remaining
in stasis as recollection
takes you back to what
seems to be ongoing
epiphany insurrection
this time legislation in
lieu of private jet riots
democracy on the brink
why not stay in house
for five instead of ten days
this will not be on the test
voting is either right or
it does not matter who counts
each one is on their own
to decide to look away
as the lifeline goes vertical
extending the viral horizon
sunsetting indefinitely
-
JanPoWriMo 4
Persistent notification
presents itself regularly
every day for the past
three days exclaiming
an exposure detected
fourteen days ago
I can only surmise took
place at the place where I
received a booster shot
and waited for ten minutes
while my phone pinged
other phones in the vicinity
anonymously and I could
hear in the background
before my face other patrons
requesting take home tests
and leaving empty handed
-
JanPoWriMo 3
Look out the window
shock of snow interrupted
by the commonplace
no one knows to use low gear
-
JanPoWriMo 2
Snow in the forecast
everything closes again
as if we knew how
to prevent mass injury
A new year begins
remembering what happens
when nothing changes
no way to tell a story
At least we are here
roads impassable frozen
stuff that could become
snowballs or men on the ground
-
JanPoWriMo 1
Already making room
for space what will be
a life they can sleep
in here it is warm
maybe too warm for
the first of the year
so much stuff to set
aside when push comes
to love some years fill
up until we have to let
them go whole houses
tucked with belongings
that no longer home us
here can you use this
towel we don’t know
where to put it but if
we remember it will keep
our hands dry and warm
-
DecPoWriMo 31
It will not do
to count our losses
when we have run
out of numbers
better to toast
burnt edges and all
save with grace
a white at the center
penultimate afterglow
how the world begins
background radiation
something to look
against all odds
forward to
Joshua Keiter 