Last night I had no dreams to remember
I only woke up a few hours too soon
with the anxiety of fifteen months
weighing down on my chest a sudden shock
accumulated irretrievable
time a physical fact preventing sleep
as it has so much over these long nights
numbers that once spoken could not be saved
seasons still perpetually delayed
hanging in the darkness heavy ether
moments lost now repeating their losses
ouroboros suffers from hunger pangs
I returned to sleep that would not suffice
to dissipate undefined sacrifice
-
JunePoWriMo 2
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JunePoWriMo 1
It has taken me
this long to know
the work begins
with offering
a presence
while there is lack
attention to details
that might otherwise
be overlooked
a garden window
beyond the steps
first taken
then broken
may be made whole
-
MayPoWriMo 31
To build a fire
it only takes a spark
some twigs
the miracle of sun
after many seasons and
three days of rain
the proper structure
in certain directions
chopping new wood
growth
breath
friends
-
MayHaikuWriMo 30
Driving through suburbs
rain reminding us of loss
and new beginnings
Dust stuck to ledges
books unread for years now packed
in too few boxes
Displaced memories
will have to grow somewhere else
waiting for return
-
MayPoWriMo 29
Place stirs memories unthought of so long
forgot they were stored somewhere far above
spaces commonly inhabited by
the future or an approximation
taking place in the present somewhat tense
I guess these echoes follow us around
meeting us when we return to their birth
-
MayPoWriMo 28
Lifting restrictions kept normal in check
now normal is suddenly coming back
with a vengeance witness democracy
dying without supermajority
will we ever know what the lab unleashed
or behave like citizens of the world
better crowd already crowded spaces
so that species waiting seventeen years
remain submerged under concrete we paved
to get from point a to point b faster
or build bigger houses on smaller plots
of land and stories wasting our treasure
on keeping up with neighbors never met
normal: a masked face we cannot forget
-
MayPoWriMo 27
Tonight I choose to remember the me
who almost thirty years ago stayed up
all night as the weather turned to summer
writing songs ten at a time on loose leaf
paper the tunes only known to my mind
at the time if I saw them now I’m sure
I could sing them sometimes even the words
come back to my senses as I’m loading
the dishwasher thinking of what I will
write this night before I fall sound asleep
those songs still exist somewhere on paper
waiting in their way singing to be sung
the pencil faded but still legible
places I left myself incredible
-
MayPoWriMo 26
The end of one journey
is another journey
as we decide what to do
with the time given us
each epilogue is followed
by a different epilogue
at once equally satisfying
if we are fortunate
in the non-times we learned
the meaning of time is
its inherent meaninglessness
until we experience them
and then we give pause
to think of what we learned
rummaging through
the attic of our attention
a collage of hunger
for what is to come
knowing tomorrow
if there is already here
-
MayPoWriMo 25
One year ago
nine minutes happened
a seventeen year old took a video
that millions became aware of
at least four hundred years to solve
it starts with one classroom
it starts with changing one’s heart
it starts with one more breath
-
MayPoWriMo 24
Bob Dylan is 80 he’s barely begun
To turn old the way some folks turn young
He’s out on the road and it’s never ending
He turns the key which way the lockdown’s bending
I listened to his music twenty years ago it’s true
All the so called classics and all the deep cuts too
He sang about losses he sang about regret
He knows in his heart that true love tends to forget
He’s a song and dance man he don’t look back
He’s goin’ to Acapulco from the basement tracks
Though the time keeps changing and shall be released
I wonder if the river flows into a masterpiece
Bob Dylan is 80 he knows a hard rain’s gonna fall
Don’t think twice if you gotta go no time to think at all
Joshua Keiter 