Dad, please show me the finger tracks
The flick of the wrist
To see the flint stone find its place
As it hops across the Bluestone

Dad, please tell me how to master putt-putt
How to not be such a mulligan
Rushing into things unawares

Dad, please tell me - oh I can't say it
How to keep my heart from ever breaking again

Watching me in the rearview mirror
He knows I'm there
Living in rearview

And Dad,
I need you to tell me I can stay there awhile

© 2018
Brandi Keaton

It is night shift

One eye shut the other half open

Day dreaming
Night stalking thoughts

Thoughts of the beauty of reality

It is night shift
Tonight there is no need to dream

Someone is at work already
I guess I'll just keep the coffee brewing

© 2018
Brandi Keaton

We live in a world of irony

Mind is in circles
Yet fixed on you

Love is desired by many
Yet shared by few



© 2018
Brandi Keaton

Absurd
Insane
Happy
Emotional
Theatrical
In love with life
With memories
With you
(Who? Who?)

Sorry.


© 2018
Brandi Keaton

We the people built the wall
You can look left
You can look right

But we the people
Yes
WE THE PEOPLE
Built the wall

He didn’t
She didn’t
We all did
We
All
Wall (“e” dropped)

The battlefield is one we meant to use in case of war with the enemy
When did the Enemy become one of our own?
Or an entire group?

When did the Enemy become the media?
The press?
When did it become Trump supporters?
Or Trump himself?
When did the Enemy become those who dislike Trump?
Or those who are politically liberal?

I believe we the people created the Enemy
As philosophical as that sounds
We, the people, did it

We the people touted diversity like the ticket to tranquility
Placing our bets that this warm embrace of peoples
Religions
Backgrounds
Would be a true gift for all people
Rich or poor
Christian or Jew

Here is the truth of the matter
The pursuit of diversity
Of creating a mural of the American people
Was superficial
It was not carried out to its full potential

We became frightened
Untrusting of others
And so we unknowingly
Yet willingly
Began to build walls

It’s quiet
Then there’s a hurricane
A mass shooting
An election

And suddenly you look and see a black man
Or a black woman
Or maybe a younger black boy
Or black girl
Standing behind their call to action of support for the Black Lives Matter movement

And for several months it Is everyone’s story
But then it is not
And people
White
Black
Any color
Feels disappointment
And the belief that walls will just keep growing taller

Because there is hate
There is a form of social paranoia that emerges
Which means more walls

An angel appears in the midst of the havoc
The grief
Under a night sky lit by vigil candlelight of yet another unfortunate event that stole the lives of our brothers and sisters
Saying that God did not mean for us to build walls and live behind them

So one day
A family makes a vow to spread kindness and love to their neighbors
The family comes together in unity
They keep the pieces of their individual walls
But now lay them down at their feet
As a way of getting somewhere
That way leads to their neighbor’s house

They reach out and take the hand of the hurting
No matter what color that hand is
No matter their beliefs
No matter what political wing they favor

It takes two wings for an eagle to fly
Left and right
An eagle with one wing would likely get exhausted
As many feel today

The neighbors receive kindness
And then they act
The walls come tumbling down
They do good regardless of the Enemy’s hatred of good
We the people can all agree
There is an Enemy
That we can be sure
And as we lie in confusion over who or what the Enemy is
We the people are all suffering
From all sides

As more and more people say one more kind word
And we the people find places
Music for the spirit
Food for the soul
That always has been
And always will be
Ours to share and appreciate

It is then we look left and right without a wall in sight
They did not disappear
For the walls simply laid down boards
Displaying the human nature of us all
As we
We the people
Stand on one unshakable
Indivisible bridge

That welcomes liberty and justice for all
That always has been
And always will be
A gift for we the people

© 2018
Brandi Keaton

Take your spot on the car lot
Vehicles shiny, polished, pressed, and folded
Folded into an ideal
Of how the family of four is transported
Of how the newlyweds expand their space
For her belly will expand
And the mister better break Miss Piggy
But the new cars don't know what's coming

War veterans, most certainly mini-vans
Can attest to the inevitable stink stains
Dog slobbers
Dirt
Or maybe that's a big pile of no. 02
Praying it's not baby Jack's (he may eat it)
Soccer practice transport
School bus escort
Spy mobile on baby's first date

Finally, the key and fob is passed
Passed ceremonially to the firstborn
Slayed the piggy again
This time for "I got a driving teen" insurance
Enough to save the firstborn in her new (to her) ride
Not enough to save the stop sign
Or the tree
Or poor Miss Jones's cat

But through some elbow grease
Quality marketing
And precious time
She's back on the lot in the "used" section
"But don't worry folks she is only lightly used"
Coos the dealer
One thing for sure
This van isn't miniature anymore

© 2018
Brandi Keaton

All the sun had to do was kiss the moon
      One taste of her breath as the world looked on
             Slowly consuming the phenomenon
                      It can't be
                           How does this end so happily
                         Pictures click click click
                        Two minutes of totality quick quick quick
              Makes all the world of difference
As we commune with this galactic love affair
                                            
             ­                                     © 2018
                                            Brandi Keaton