Sometimes I try
to jam a lifetime's regret
   into a single evening

Make a list of the actions I'll take
   to catch up on all the delinquency,
      make all my outstanding to-dos 
         stand down

to get back to Day 0
   ground 0's
      dust still on the black lug soles 
         I wore that day
   under my sleeve
yet branded

I hallucinate
   the airline seat
in the yard we can see
   from alan's lobby
there on the promenade

         small tug boats chugging to and fro
               atilt, washing water onto the esplanade

confetti fell, ash like a midnight snowstorm 
stopped, then again confetti fell
 
   on that september morning, two lunar parades within one hour

         then perfect blue sky

no clouds, except for those gathered in my mind

I deferred life despite the rain, moisture-rich air made for cloudbursts,
   kept me tentative, decidedly askew without boxes left to tick

flightless yet on the wing, never to touch down, eternally alit
   two candles

remember the rumble, the ground-shake, the cotton masks fashioned 
      from the center's tablecloths and napkins, the large shears

I dusted off a man I did not know, who was covered in powdered sugar,
   I tasted the sweetness of many lives

life interrupted

                          oh, to recommence

                                     we have yet to return
                                                   to our regularly scheduled...

the end of our broadcast day
   till 'morrow when all is righted again
           
cc: MCS, CC, 2022