december 4
evening, fierce frigid wind, intense snow squall.
the first time
i contemplate infinity,
7 or 8 years old,
i am in bed for the night
under the eaves
in the back bedroom,
trying to figure it out:
how can something go on forever?
it has to end somewhere.
doesn’t it?
but,
if it does, then
there has to be something else
outside it. and outside that
something else.
do the stars go on forever?
they can’t!
they have to stop somewhere.
don’t they?
if i try to count
them all,
will i never stop
counting?
tonight, a night in december,
in the car,
a lifetime later,
dave and i
drive to the grocery store
to run an errand.
holiday lights, street lights,
and headlights
work to brighten the darkness.
an a cappella group
sings in close harmony through
the car ‘s sound system; our own voices
join in the refrain: for i can’t help
falling in love with you,
when
suddenly!
the ferocious
magnificent swirl
of a snow squall!
all the stars
in the universe flying
every which way,
every
single
one!
including the very last one
at the edge of the universe!
and the one beyond that! and
the one after that!
all
the answers to
all
my questions
dancing wildly,
infinitely!
—dotty seiter
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4 x 6″; watercolor, ink, acrylic, and pastel pencil on watercolor paper
neurographic painting
2026
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Notes about poem and art:
• “december 4” captures my giddiness at being presented all the answers to the mysteries of the universe as well as the reminder that my imagination knows no boundaries!
• I got plain ol’ stuck more than once while working on All My Questions, knowing it needed something but not knowing what. The piece advanced in stop-stutter fashion; I’d add something, get stuck, let the piece sit on my desk for hours or days, wait for it to tell me what to try next, try the next thing, and then repeat the whole cycle.
dottyseiter: now playing 
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