Time Fire

Darkness mocks me
Stares back into my
Wide open eyes.

The hell with digital clocks
Is they
Flash time precisely
Unlike the grace of
Sweep second hands.

So I dance
With my demons
Wondering endlessly
Wondering
At the whys
And whereofs
Of this too-brief
Life.

Had I stood
A half inch to the left
Those bullets
Would have killed me.

Had I have been a bit more
Kind
She would have stayed.

Had I stopped
For coffee
Or had I not
Taken that call
Pivotal elements of my life
Would not have
Happened.

Life is the construct
Of the choices made
In a single second.

I tease
At my life’s frayed edges
Unraveling the moments
In the dark.

It must be an ordained review.
Even sleeping pills are
Useless.

So I stare into the void
Knowing sleep is paper
Memory fuel
And time fire.