Joshua Keiter

We are going to announce our plan
Of course we have a plan
We have no plan because we are disbanding our planning committee to make plans
The committee to make plans was unable to make a plan because it was impeded by a previous administration’s inability to make plans
Foresight is the sole arbiter of the success of our plan
We have researched the appropriate Excel functions to show that cases will drop off immediately upon implementation of our plan
Who said we had a plan
We have always had the greatest plans despite the fact that the fake news enemy of the people says we have no plans
We have the best minds in charge of our plan
No one said our plan had to work only that we had a plan
That’s a nasty question to imply that we have no plan
We are here to celebrate the raging success of our plan
Our plan will only result in less than 2 million deaths which was always our plan
We’ve really done an incredible job with our plan
You should be saying how amazing and quickly we’ve responded with a plan
The plan was to destroy government for forty years so you would think we didn’t have a clue how to plan
We were always going to announce the existence of aliens and murder hornets as a corollary to our plan
Do you have a plan
If it’s so easy to make a plan why don’t you come up with a plan
Here is a corporate executive who planned to be here today to tell you about pillows
The plan is to gradually phase out the necessity to have a plan
The plan will be announced as soon as we have a plan
Here is the plan
We have accomplished our plan

Which way
do we go

when “one way”
is clearly marked

and no one else
is going that way

mission accomplished
I guess

we all know what
happens next

I would bring my students
to the sculptures where you
could see the bullet holes

I would have nothing to say
in 2003 as the thief executive
lied us into another war

except to hope that it
never happened again
that somehow the past

could be relegated to history
that the spots where students
lay dying might no longer

be prime parking places
and instead set aside
a testament to four names

a shock stricken face
rising out of the photograph
helpless at the lifeless

body of carbon and memories
prone on the pavement
calling out mute to us

over half a century ago
knowing this instant
would be repeated perhaps

with less fanfare as the decades
came strolling torrentially by
and we greeted each other with

May the fourth be with you
and sang an old man’s song—
should have been done long ago

we’re finally on our own

Through the suddenly
open window the scent of
burning leaves rises

or else barbecue
on a night like this why not
summer still a thing

stay away from crowds
stay away and wear a mask
stay home and save lives

how to celebrate
summer in a pandemic
keep it to yourself

and share it with us

In this new world
of remote everything

there are nothing
but societies

a system of
destructive falsehoods

perishing the thought
of corporate interregnum

it takes so much
brainwashing to build

it will take a lot more than
bleach to tear it down

just ask the homeowner
who spent a solid hour

on the quietest and brightest
afternoon of the spring

obliterating the tall grass
unaware it grows back again

heedless of our fruitless
shouting insane demands

you can hear the new
structure of feeling

slouching to be born
it just isn’t very loud yet

Nothing new happened today
unless you count
the fragrance of the air

reminding child you of the day
you knew snow
would not return again soon

so you leave the windows open
even as the clouds
turn a dark brighter shade of gray

and set the tea upon the window sill
as you walk the neighborhood
smiling at every face you meet

even though distance is kept
like a promised thing
a rose with fragrance not quite

as sweet as when you return
to count the minutes
until a new thing begins

like dinner or the difference
between strangers
greeting each other on the street

and never looking back at each

incredibly grateful
Now: contactless pharmacy options
Can you learn optimism? Like right now?

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