242/365

i could only wait
so long before taking
a deep measured breath
and this first step.
never one to visit fortune tellers,
with their tarot cards and starsigns,
superstitious relics in a museum
of memories and faded ambition.

getting into trouble, for falling behind
unawares the journey had begun long ago,
who’ll be the arbiter of justice
when there is no map or compass.

lost in an empty factory-
the machines long gone quiet,
the labor fled,
commodities left to rot
in an invented country without borders,
it’s flag an old soothsayers robe soaked
in lavender and rosemary.

it was the longest minute of my life,
choosing to act, instead of
watching and waiting.

we all have happy childhoods
if we squint and pretend.

i could only wait
so long before taking
a deep measured breath
and this first step.