Travelers Welcome

Travelers Welcome

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Time Lines

by Ed Markowski

On  the  moonlit  edge  of  a  New  York  Minute.
We  met  in  line  at  the  express  checkout.
Her  soft  lady  fingers  were  wrapped  around  a  jar  of  Nescafe  Instant.
My  calloused  pocket  aces  juggled  two  decks  of  Flash  Cash  lottery  tickets.
She  scanned  me  I  scanned  her.
She  said  Let’s  go  I  said  Let’s  go.
Five  seconds  later  we’re  flying  down  Owens  Road  in  her  Mercury  Comet.
Ten  seconds  post  Comet  we  stood  on  her  front  porch.
Fifteen  seconds  past  her  porch  we  were  panting  on  her  bedroom  floor.
Twenty  seconds  above  her  bedroom  floor  we  were  two  stars  rising  and  falling  in  a  ceiling  mirror.
Ten  seconds  after  the  flood  two  sparks  begat  a  wildfire.
At  three – thirty  on  that  fifth  day  of  May  we  saw  each  other  for  the  last  time.
Five  years  later  to  the  day  today  I  received  an  eleven  word  note  from  Missoula  Montana.
There’s  a  boy  named  Jake  here  crying  to  meet  his  daddy
On  rainy  days  like  today  I  think  about  them  from  daylight  to  dark.
And  every  day  I  hate  myself  at  the  dawn  of  my  death.

1 comment:

  1. Such a strange moonlit story full of sad ghosts that almost make it home, almost! Sad...

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