What if it’s a miracle
that anything is born
in the vicinity of sun
globes hurtling closer
circumferences drifting
have you considered
the unlikelihood of
your own demise
who hasn’t dreamed
they alone would outlive
death itself if that were
what reality dictates
then we would be alone
one planet is enough
life an experiment
collected on the surface
still evolving long past
enunciated birth
who is to say we are here
is what we are when
we could easily be there
a memory everyone remembers
-
DecPoWriMo 9
-
DecPoWriMo 8
Soon enough the day
will hold no light
only darkness
tinged with an edge
of horizon staring
blankly back at us
wondering what
we were looking for
in all the gloaming
when hidden brilliance
is the point that need
not be made after all
-
DecPoWriMo 7
Everyone’s either
stuck in traffic
disconnected from WiFi
disappearing into backgrounds
burned out on fatigue
staring at the lights
waiting to be transfigured
scheduling their boosters
trying to forget two years worth
of heightened lowness
learning the wrong lessons
updating their Zooms
following the false equivalences
catching the other shoe to drop
how can this all be prelude?
does nothing ever end anymore?
you there boy what variant is this?
when the morning comes
we had better wake up
and forget all the dreams
growing more vivid by the second
each section disconnected
from the last and each other
we thought could make sense
some children have never
remembered a world without masks
-
DecPoWriMo 6
Emptying out the year
leftovers exhausted
making meal plans
stocking up the fridge
with soon to be
processed foods
meanwhile we have
a new trash company
apparently that collects
all bags in one central spot
on a prominent corner
in our development
they sit there for awhile
like the Grinch’s furtive sleigh
until the truck came along
we weren’t sure they wouldn’t stay
indefinitely just a pile
of collected refuse
an impromptu monument
to all we actively wish not to keep
a slight delay making it seem
like they wouldn’t disappear
just grow bigger together
reminder of a putrid year
we will blessedly be free from
if we remember to take it away
-
DecPoWriMo 5
The darkness is waiting
to reach its fullness
out of sheer boredom
knowing it cannot keep
encroaching with such
inherent persistence
insistent without withering
giving way to light
whole in its shyness
revolving until we see
out of the corner
what we always were
turning in stillness
altogether present
despite the brilliance
here in the darkness
-
DecPoWriMo 4
Ode to the Box of Tree Ornaments
You are timeless in that
no one can remember
the last time you were packed
some time when the days
were growing longer
and less sparkly
You are the pinnacle of flexibility
the same newspaper from
sometime in the last century
can protect the newest baubles
which might be decades old
placed with the utmost respect
haphazardly
Some child/relation made this
Your hooks grow every time
they are seen and multiply
like cells dividing
but staying in the same tiny sphere
impenetrable
You never lack for balls
Each ornament a time capsule
bringing us back to
the precise moment you arrived
the season everlasting and musty
given new life by these wire
branches adjusted into place
to cradle your precious frames
always heralding the promise
of a new year or the last
old one we remember
Our First Pandemic Christmas
you mean this is only our second?
-
DecPoWriMo 3
Light barely breaking
overhead blanket of clouds
keeping things colder
time to make the bed
steps sleep through the neighborhood
scratch the necks of cats
enough now call it a day
-
DecPoWriMo 2
Unseasonable
weather we’re having lately
leaves a nasty stench
some creature ripped up
a pumpkin left on our stoop
pile of seeds and all
such waste untended
I’m sure the leaf blowers will
come again this week
propelling gas fumes
that certainly shorten lives
schools are shutting down
to combat copy
threats coming in from all sides
there is precedence
for everything that kills us
-
NovPoWriMo 30
In the dream
of course
there is a kitten
sitting of course
in a container
of donut holes
and looking again
all the donut holes
are puppies of course
stretching out
and yawning just like
donut holes do
and then we leave
the grocery store
in a helicopter
of course which
pitches wildly
to one side
before veering
to the other side
then descending
without landing
we just hover there
in the dream of course
Joshua Keiter 