Joshua Keiter

It turns out grief 
Makes a world unmade

The lost reclaimed 
As part of oneself 

The body pieces of 
Disembodied pixels

Coagulated into 
Blood flesh and bone 

The only media available 
To remember with 

Until we are reunited 
Shivering in the foundation 

Echoing future potential 
Razed to the ground

Conditions are ripe
For this year to be 
A do over in every 
Sense of the words

Keep getting stuck on 
Detritus of the past 
Lingering in the shadows 
Adjacent to the sun 

Turns out certain ones 
Of us can spend their days 
Oblivious to concerns 
Everyone alive is having 

So long as no one notices 
Maybe they will go away 
While another scapegoat 
Saunters into view 

Distractions just another
Way of saying they do not 
In any uncertain terms 
At least care about you

The line for the second dose 
Stretched all the way to the door 
For the first dose but not so far as 
To obstruct the path where 
At the end of a long hallway
The nurse was in the corner alone
In a large room waving me over 
To sit and look out the window 
At the dogs playing in the dog park 
As the nurse asked questions 
Confirming everything on the paper
And administered the shot 
As they brought in another batch 
I removed to the observation room 
Which looked as I imagine 
Classrooms might look these days 
If every class could be in the gymnasium 
There I had my fifteen minutes 
To myself I told the ones I love 
I had gotten the first dose as ordinary 
An extraordinary event might be

Somehow the turning of the season 
Made real not by the first glimmer 

Of sun stretching through the gloom 
I listened to an album I have heard 

Maybe a thousand times in the past 
The revelation of information encoded 

Almost overwhelming the senses 
Evidence not only each time you play 

This piece of music you hear something else 
And that every time is an invisible experience 

Unrepeatable in its innocent imperfections 
The half harvest of a brave new world

Of course it has been a year of the month of March 
Of course we remember what we were doing 
Of course lockdown lasted more than three weeks 
Of course the last board game we played was Pandemic 
Of course they relaxed restrictions too soon 
Of course no one was really all in this together 
Of course science would win over common sense 
Of course thank goodness we have nothing in common 
Of course the loss is incalculable 
Of course we are making up for lost time 
Of course we need to tell our stories 
Of course the last song they played 
Of course senseless death is the human condition 
Of course there will be singing in the darkness 
Of course about the darkness 
Of course the birds are gathering in the northern hemisphere 
Of course the season cycles independent of our inclinations 
Of course there is a forecast of rain 
Of course we will withstand the drought the freeze 
Of course collateral damage 
Of course there is no replacement for the irreplaceable 
Of course no one knows what is on the other side 
Of course we are heading toward the light

It might be 
We will forget 
What we lost 

When we return 
To the places 
We cannot remember 

Thinking it was 
Imperative to go 
On without them 

The alternative is 
More likely and 
Also already happening 

We have grown 
With our memories 
Places we knew 

Have come along 
With us also 
If formerly abandoned 

By their absence 
And careful practice 
They remain living 

Waiting for us 
To reshape them 
In our image 

Which we found

Not sure which 
Three hour long blockbuster 
I inevitably fall asleep to
Somewhere in the pivotal
Yet relentless third act
We should watch to explain
The current byte size enigmatic 
Televisual puzzle we just went 
With the one suggested at the end 
Of the latest episode 
Recognized some faces and names
And callbacks to future franchises 
And it all made a little more sense 
Especially the part where 
The world is constantly threatened 
By external and intrinsic forces 
Causing mayhem and destruction 
And nobody seems to do anything
About it the plot keeps not advancing 
And more buildings and pavements 
Keep getting blown out and uprooted 
Everyone walking away unscathed almost

The dead only visit us 
When it is absolutely necessary 

Last night as I slept 
We embraced 

I was surprised at the ordinary 
Of it all 

And I asked because I wanted to know 
If you were okay 

My consciousness did not hear 
Your answer 

Only waking to remember 
You are dead 

But while I was asleep 
I was with you 

And you were standing there  
Like you always do 

When you come to visit 
Waiting for me to wake up