count down

soon it will be soon
& the waiting room is full
of elk. a salt lick we share
& i talk about how badly 
i want it to be over. the animals 
do not need doctors because
they have accepted their mortality 
in a different way than us.
a bomb lives like a grandmother 
inside the walls. i hear it ticking.
or else it's a tell tale heart. or else
it's a clock & i am late
for the gymnasium. flowers 
with their pocket watches.
a race unfolds between doomsdays.
mine is shiny & dripping with beetles.
yours is an echo box. aches in my ribs 
from using them as a ladder.
you have to get out of the 
snake pit somehow. a credit card 
kind of laughter. that, "we'll be there soon."
& the soon is wearing roller skates &
the soon has never been here before.
i know the way to your house now
which means it takes less time
to romeo your window. quail eggs
throw at cars. mushy asterisks.
asteriods in the yard that i have 
to go & rake up. whatever it is,
will be here soon. i haven't kissed
someone on new years since high school.
i'm always like... what if this is the last moment.
i don't want to spend it with my eyes closed.
but here you are & here is
the descending crystal ball. 
lading a helicopter on the doll house roof.
do not worry, i have spent a life time
planning my escape. cutting 
the head off an arrival. let's do it.
let's wait all over again.