Joshua Keiter

When the unthinkable 
Becomes predictable 

When the historical
Becomes annual 

When the banned 
Have only just begun 

What are we waiting for?
Time to turn the page 

Inaction is a poor 
Substitute for rage

Difficult to reconcile 
The choices that led 
To these circumstances 

In the context of facts 
That are ongoing and 
Indisputable refuted 

Only by those who deny 
Their implacable part 
In the ongoing catastrophe 

No one really knows 
Will be resolved despite 
How or if the vote goes 

So ridiculous to be so
Preyed upon the mercy 
Of merciless mercenaries 

Taking up space and little else
Least of all their reputations 
That in the face of these facts 

Those who speak will not forget

What makes a day 
Feel like a certain day 
But not the actual day 
Nor any other day
Which it could be 
If uncertainty were not 
All there was to be certain about 

Never could get the hang of Thursdays

The traumatic world 
Arrives with 
Trigger warnings 
For what is not even past 

The trick is 
The accomplice has 
Not even left
The scene yet 

Bellowing refrains 
An autocratic automaton 
Scanning for ratings 
Among the raidings

Let this be an end 
To what the fragile 
Go on television 
And put on a show 

Only to say 
They have been cancelled 
Never mind 
The voters have already 

Told them you’re fired 
It bears repeating 
Until it sticks 
Like this wound 

We cannot get rid of 
Try though we must

Even on the coldest day 
There may be something 

In the quality of the light
Or the way your face turns 

Reluctantly to greet it 
That convinces you spring 

Has already arrived and if 
The season is late then so be it 

The light will be familiar 
To our faces nevertheless

We have no idea 
If what we make 
Will be memorable 
To anyone else 

Least of all ourselves 
At some point 
In the future when 
We are unrecognizable 

And have forgotten
What we kept in 
Secret made known 
Only to a few 

Strands of carbon 
Placed neatly together 
Breathing momentarily 
For the foreseeable 

Until it is gone

So many people 
Out on the roads 
The day before snow 

But not so many 
It seems extraordinary 
They keep building 

More lanes for more cars 
To drive at the same time 
All the more reason 

For everyone to be out 
To get the bread and milk 
Or just drive aimlessly 

Before the precipitation 
That is out of our control
Shuts the whole thing down

Between a busted tire 
And a play going wrong 
We might have anticipated 
The year and some 
We moved together 
A kiss with fabric 
Over our faces at the door 
At least means we get 
To spend our evenings 
Mastering tasks we never 
Expected to encounter 
Ringing in each circle 
Beginning with no end 
Glasses foggy still in sight

How does my mind know 
As I lay me down to sleep 
What it was dreaming 

The night before when
It was not even awake 
Traveling along 

Making tiny leaps 
Of pure imagination 
Unaccounted for 

A long continuous dream