once upon a time
an emergent time
an Ecclesiastes time
a rising sun time that shines warm on the cheeks
a fresh time blossoming from the emptiness and greening into history
an epochal time
a seasonal time
a calendrical time
a time of minutiae ticking left wrist shackled time
a global market shekel time
a metred time
a banging bongo time
a pulsing time of poems and blood pumping through the heart and bleeding out onto the floor
an airport time
a hotel time delivering mutton shanks in white wine sauce on the whim of a three a.m. rumbling gut
a news cycle time
a harried permanent crisis time
a meditating pseudo-Buddhist CEO escape hatch time
hard time in solitary
atoning for the crime time
and now it’s time to say good-bye
to all our family friends
M – I – C – K – E – watch
the way time ends