"Strange Quarks", "I Don’t See Why Not", & "Traveling in the Rain" by Ryan Keating

Strange Quarks

Did the ice cube tray fall

nine minus one bodies broken

into sheer chaos along the cold hard

atomic angles of the terracotta tile grid

saturning euclidean in shock waves

of mostly frozen resolve (un)determined?

Or did I drop it

releasing rebellion bound up in the garden

of nerves in my hand free to let go

and watch the ice flowers consequencing

on the fertile earth floor in melting blooms

obvious only to the willing observer?

I Don’t See Why Not

I just put your daughter on a plane.

She’s going to say goodbye to you,

although she might not make it 

to the hospital in time. It’s a long way.

I was 23 when I nearly stumbled

in the doorway on those harsh steps

from the kitchen to the garage 

where you were disassembling 

another Saturday by yourself

and we stood on opposite sides 

of the pool table blinking until I broke

the silence to say that I was planning

to ask her to marry me. 

-I’m hoping to have your blessing.

-I don’t see why not.

We have stood mostly on opposite sides

for 23 years now, 

many of them in blinking silence.

Today, I hope she is able to be close to you,

at your bedside, maybe hold your hand

and holding together 

a Thursday barely morning 

talking about the kids and letting go.

I picture you going home

across all that distance 

and through the garage, 

asking to be let into the house.

-I’m hoping to have your blessing

-I don’t see why not.

Traveling in the Rain

A map of unwiped raindrops 

clouds the landscape and the horizon

rumbling closer and the hazy sky 

just beyond the windshield

while rivulets carve out continents

and archipelagos on the glass

leaving you free to imagine whatever

weather you want and choose 

to live in any land of sparkling emerald

where there is no longer any sea

or drop into the crystal water in your mind

and float away in shifting winds

toward a destination undarkened 

by the evening soon to set until

the next moment and all is clear.

Ryan Keating is a pastor and writer on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. His work can be found in publications such as Ekstasis Magazine, Fare Forward, Roi Fainéant, and Funicular. He is pursuing a PhD in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge. His chapbook, “A Dance In Medias Res” is now available from Wipf and Stock.