Bethesda

do you remember that evening

when the sun was setting

over Highland Golf Course

and you did cartwheels

through the sprinklers?

you looked like a clock face

with four hands

tumbling through that summer haze

and laughing as if

it didn’t matter that the world

was going to end

that all the hours / minutes / seconds

all the milliseconds that we ever had

were precious not despite

but because

they slipped away like sand

let me tell you

there’s a homeless man I know who pays

in perfect change

he keeps a pocket full of coins

because he knows that if you lose enough

pennies / it starts to add up

one fine evening at the pizza place I work

an angel tried to rob the register

my manager wrestled her for hours

or seconds — I can’t remember which —

but the rascal got away

left him sprawled out on the lobby floor

To lick his wounds

but here’s the thing

afterwards he told me

that it wasn’t the scuffle that had hurt him

but the realization

that he had wasted time

he hadn’t even asked the angel

for a blessing

clock in / clock out / clock in / clock out

that's no way to live

ain’t it funny how time flies

how it clocks us

and then flutters up to Heaven

leaves us crippled on the lobby floor

reaching for memories

that are halfway dreams

take me back to that golf course

and as we tumble through the sprinklers

teach me to bathe in the waters of the now

tell me this is holy water

like no tongue can provide

tell me that by passing through this rain

the cripple can be healed