In The Fullness of Time - Dec 16 2025

 

In The Fullness of Time

Dec 16 2025

There are no clocks

in casinos and waiting rooms.

As if time was hypothetical

and could be safely ignored.

As if the planet had stopped spinning

the moment you entered this exempt domain.

And truth be told, you’d rather not know

just how late it’s getting.

At least they didn’t flinch from the truth,

naming it

in plain English

for just what it is

 — a room in which you wait.

Fairly warned

that your valuable time means nothing to them,

and to prepare yourself 

to stew

pace

shift in your chair,

impatiently glare

at the sweet young receptionist,

happily chatting

and filing her nails.

Will I think ruefully back

to this wasted hour

as the minutes run down

and I contemplate death?

A death-bed regret

I suspect we all will share

in the fullness of time.

But eventually

even the worst wait ends.

Your name is called

and you’re ushered into another room

where you may wait just as well,

killing time,

staring at the walls, 

toying with homicide.

So I wonder

how much of life is waiting?

Waiting to grow up

be on your own

become a man.

For the next rite of passage,

the next big thing,

the love of your life 

to come into yours.

And for some of us

it seems like year after year

all we’ve really done

is wait for life to begin,

only to realize

too close to the end

that it already did.