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Poetry Well for August

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Poetry Well for August
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Poetry Well for August
Robert Keeler was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but spent his early years — until age 12 — in the jungles of Colombia, South America. He holds a Master of Science degree in computer science and a Master of Business Administration. He was an Honor Man in the U.S. Naval Submarine School and was awarded a Vietnam Service Medal. He worked for the Boeing Company and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The poet also received a certificate in poetry, a Whiting Foundation Grant and was listed with the Directory of Poets and Writers. (Courtesy Photo)

The Poetry Well is a monthly

column that showcases island poetry.

This month includes a poem by Robert Keeler.

The Pale Wall Became the Mind Itself

The pale wall standing in front of him was a lake.

Then, in his mind, the pale wall became the mind itself

and the pale now-mind imagined it was falling into

a windowless room. The surface of the falling

lake was nearly flat; as it fell toward him, he leaned

slowly into its conscious surface and looked beneath.

He saw his thoughts there like white salamanders.

The wall shimmered with all the thoughts underneath.

But the lake was flat still and, running into its deepest parts, the thoughts left no lasting trace of their passing.

Then the pale lake’s water itself became one sole thought and, with mind and wall, came close to rest.

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