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See YouTube video 2/26/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 2 new poems Life got in the Way & newspaper ink’s the blood of a dying species, and her Periodic Table poem Tin at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s (this video was filmed from a Canon Power Shot camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuypers

See YouTube video 2/26/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 2 new poems Life got in the Way & newspaper ink’s the blood of a dying species, and her Periodic Table poem Tin at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s (this video was filmed from a Nikon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Life got in the Way” 11/6/16 at “Recycled Reads” open mic, at a book store affiliated with the Austin Public Library (video filmed from a Sony camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Life got in the Way” 11/6/16 at “Recycled Reads” open mic, at a book store affiliated with the Austin Public Library (from a Canon Power Shot camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers 9/23/17 reading her poem “Knew I Had to be Ready”, then her poems “or my happiness, or my life” and “Life got in the Way” from her book “(pheromemes) 2015-2017 poems” at Georgetown Public Library’s “Poetry Aloud” (Sony).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers 9/23/17 reading her poem “Knew I Had to be Ready”, then her poems “or my happiness, or my life” and “Life got in the Way” from her book “(pheromemes) 2015-2017 poems” at Georgetown Public Library’s “Poetry Aloud” (Lumix).

Life got in the Way Janet Kuypers 2/21/16 (in response to “apologizing for what you didn’t do”) 1. I tried. I did what I could. I had no idea that you would die. You seemed fine. There were no signs. I know I broke up with you because I was traveling around the country for months, and really, how could I expect you to wait for me. But I called from a pay phone long distance when I could. And you seemed fine. There were no signs. And I was alone in a hotel room on the other side of the country, waiting to pick someone else up from the airport, and all I could do was cry, as I tried to see if I could be with you once more, at your funeral, but the flights were out of synch with when I had to leave again, and - and i’m sorry. I tried. I really did. I wanted that moment of closure, I wanted to say good-bye to your painted corpse, probably wearing my favorite blue tie of yours. But, it’s probably for the best that I couldn’t get there to see you. Because this way, being alone allowed me to cry for you that much more.   2. I tried. I did what I could. I lived farther away from everyone else, by choice, so it was harder for me to drive to see you as often as everyone else did. The cancer diagnosis wasn’t good, but I’d meet you at the hospital whenever I could. I know it wasn’t enough, life would get in the way, but I tried. I did what I could. And you seemed to be getting better, you were in remission. I flew across the country to see you, no one else did that, but even when we were together it seems I never knew the right words and I never wanted to make you break down by wanting to give you a hug. So although I was there, I’m sure we kept our distance more than we should have, and I’m sorry for that. You have no idea how sorry I am. But you seemed to be getting worse, the cancer came back, you were immune to the chemo. You seemed sick and tired of them drilling holes in your hip to see if the cancer would ever get out of your bone marrow. And I keep telling you, I tried. I did what I could. But life would get in the way and there was only so much I could do. As you seemed worse, you slept all the time, so I don’t know if you’d even know I was there. And until you died I tried. I did what I could. But I’m sorry. Because all I could say is that life got in the way.

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