Joshua Keiter

Not ready to trust
humans to do the right thing
indoors or outdoors

while the numbers keep
creeping up a steady slope
I watch the pixels

accumulate as
the days turn into routine
a strange new normal

more strange than normal
but not so much that I feel
safe to trust again

just wear a damn mask
and don’t creep up behind me
waiting to buy milk

like we’re the last ones alive

So what do you do?
A job is not who you are—
now you can keep it

Underestimate
the power of spoken word
at your own peril

These faces onscreen
demand to be heard—justice
won’t take a back seat

while voice gives life to breathing

We are not promised
a single day—not one—but
in the days we have

we should try to be
at least better than we were
in the days before

The books may arrive
before the storm does its work
but what’s done is done

the damage is real
though it might be symbolic
when statues and flags

topple while others stand still

Someone else messed up
rearranging these bookshelves
so it’s up to us

to place them with care
in a way that makes some sense
finding ourselves here

bewildered among the stacks

The library shelves
are in complete disarray
for renovation

an apt metaphor
for this—our current moment
turned to distraction

We know what is right
but we don’t know where or how
it will be conveyed

So in the meantime
keep on alphabetizing
to distract yourself

from the real work of
putting it back in order
as it’s never been—

The revolution can’t wait

Sun is going down—
another day living with
years upon our backs

No simple fix or
even complicated ones
will erase those years

Only hope we have—
promise of equality
rather than revenge

Listen—you can hear
the chants wherever you are
Here: Black lives matter.

Corner Vigil

Seen by the faces
and the noise of passersby
we kneel in silence

only to return
to life that they will not know
tears staining our eyes