January 6, 2021

This is the carnage
Of the Age of Aquarius
A double star
Opening a double door
To the darkness
Where those who demand
The most amount of respect
Are the last ones to give it
To anyone else
When the left and right
Continually fight each other
Do you know who laughs?
The top
Now that we've all seen this horror
From both sides of the aisle
Can we agree
That it is not only 
Partly our fault
But something we should be
Active and willing to change
I've often worried that
Regret is an antiquated notion
My generation was left to bury
Let's not let that be the case
For we all have
Some amount of blood
On our collective hands
Let's at least wave to each other
As we drown
To show 
We are all bound
By our limitless humanity
And ever increasing 
Imperfection


Copyright 2021 by Steve Keil

Smoke Victory Cigarettes

The first day of the 
New Stay At Home order
And I'm going to be
A visiting criminal
Do I care?
I'm concerned, perhaps
But in my defense, officer
I have spent the last two weeks
In my room
Only leaving for groceries
And the morning run in the dark
I need to get a prescription filled
And I need to have a conversation
With someone
In person
That, as far as I'm concerned
Is an essential service
And, really
There's four people in my bubble
And this naked couple I'm going to visit
Is half of them
So, fine me and lock me up
For socialization
Then take me to 
Room 101
Put those impending rats in my face
And let's get this
Whole thing over with
Because, after all
You know how much
I love you
Don't you?


Copyright 2021 by Steve Keil

The End of August, The End of the Road

From my latest book, Vanishing Fair, available on Amazon.


Everybody wants to rule the world
I didn't then and still don't
Because like most things of supposed value
It would be way too much work
But what I did want to do
As my best buddy Jeff and I
Were listening to that Tears For Fears manifesto
On our way back from 
The Little Gem Diner
In the north end of Syracuse
While the sun came up
What I really wanted to do
Was to get away from everything
I could see with my bloodshot eyes
As the view from Route 81
Was the same passing blur it had been
Since high school
I not only knew why I wanted to leave
But where I wanted to go
The mysterious city of Toronto
That had captured my heart and soul
On previous excursions upwards
In the past few years
All this I knew at that eye bleeding hour
With the sun burning my corneas
Even though I couldn't say it
From lack of energy or understanding
To anyone who could listen
Especially my best buddy, Jeff
Who was chain smoking his Winstons
And contemplating similar 
Exit strategies of his own


Copyright 2020 by Steve Keil