Joshua Keiter

Sometimes listening
To a loved one speak even
Across distances

Is enough to bring
Your complete being to tears
In recognition

Life is meant to be
Lived in close proximity
To one another

And once words have gone
From one to the other then
The circle’s complete

Even this openended

Just because they say
It might not even be true
You have permission

To indulge in what
Some might call schadenfreude
Really it’s only

A coping technique
That builds your immunity
To further bullshit

All of a sudden
Images from the distant
Past are appearing

At most unbidden
At least I am unaware
I would be here now

Tracing the distance
An uninterrupted gap
As through a wormhole

With infinity
Jostled somewhere in between
Every universe

And all I can think
Is that I am missing out
On living my life

Where does it go anyway

How could it be that
The start of spooky season
Feels no different

Than each one this year
I’ve been joking it’s still March
It might as well be

That’s some spooky stuff
If all around us the world
Was moving forward

And we were stuck here
While a rotting gourd loitered
In the whitest house

Blabbing the same thing
Not giving us any peace
For six freaking months

The squirrels seem eager
To peck away at pumpkins
Though decorative

At least they promote decay