7 of 30, Poem-A-Day, "No One You Know"
No One You Know
I can explain the mess, baby.
Listen, just listen for a minute -
haven’t you ever wanted to return
to a moment in your life, some time, some place
where you know what you did was wrong and make it right?
Are you telling me you’ve never said a word
you wish you could take back?
Don’t you ever look over your shoulder at night sometimes
and see faces in the dark, strangers and friends
waiting for you to make amends?
No one you know?
Have you ever composed a list of people
you would apologize to
if time and space weren’t in the way?
If I’m ever too quiet for your comfort,
if I ever seem like I’ve a lot on my mind
it’s because I keep a list like that
and all I want in the whole world
is to be able to crumple up that list
and toss it in a wastebasket
before I’m lowered back into the Earth;
I’d like to set that list on fire.
There are doors I should have left alone;
kisses in the history of me that shouldn’t be.
But I can’t wait for science any longer
and I’ve tired of waiting for God to kill me.
So, here’s what happened.
This will sound a little bit crazy;
but I tried to make myself a time machine
using three microwaves, an antique hourglass
and an open pitcher mixture of absinthe and green Kool-Aid.
I found the recipe online somewhere:
it said to empty the hourglass and then refill it
with a handful of dirt from the nearest cemetery.
I did that, but I didn’t cut and paste the recipe right
and so I guess I missed it an important step along the way
and I’d give anything to go back in time
and correctly cut and paste the instructions for making a time machine;
please, listen; that’s why there’s a gaping hole in the kitchen;
that’s why all of our clothes are on the lawn; I swear.
Heaven’s electric bill has got to be huge.
Think what you want of me,
but look me in the eyes:
I am sorry for all the tears.
Listen, if I could change things
and alter the past, turn this world around somehow
please know that you would still be here.
I can explain.
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April 7, 2009 by Rich Boucher.