Fear of the evening darkness
slips aside as easily as my zipper
to tuck the pack into the jacket
underneath my coat.
Twelve seconds. Returned.
Smoking again. Drags between
gnawed fingernails on the right hand,
my glove still wedged beneath
my left armpit.
Dabbing out the cigarette's embers,
afraid of the dark. The seams breathe.
Coughed spots of blood again.
Twenty-three seconds. There is time.
We can make it. If we leave now.
Sun will be up in eight and a half hours.
"Be afraid or fearless,"
the seams breathe and wrinkle
like waterlogged clotted scabs,
"the sun will set again
you pretty, lonely, thing.
Please do get your rest in the morning."
Get there. We'll be fine.
Cigarette ember burns both knuckles.
If we leave now, we can make it.
slips aside as easily as my zipper
to tuck the pack into the jacket
underneath my coat.
Twelve seconds. Returned.
Smoking again. Drags between
gnawed fingernails on the right hand,
my glove still wedged beneath
my left armpit.
Dabbing out the cigarette's embers,
afraid of the dark. The seams breathe.
Coughed spots of blood again.
Twenty-three seconds. There is time.
We can make it. If we leave now.
Sun will be up in eight and a half hours.
"Be afraid or fearless,"
the seams breathe and wrinkle
like waterlogged clotted scabs,
"the sun will set again
you pretty, lonely, thing.
Please do get your rest in the morning."
Get there. We'll be fine.
Cigarette ember burns both knuckles.
If we leave now, we can make it.
