words

every night
i try to steal a little more from the day,
an hour, a minute, microseconds,
as much as i can get.

i maneuver until all moves have been made,
and i waver at the staircase,
watching my shadow slip along the wall.

in the kitchen i open cabinets
and consider what goes best
with an 8 dollar bottle of riesling,
or a buck fifty quart of beer.

every night
i measure meaning by the apogee of the sun,
by the moon, the planets, the stars,
as far out as i can get.

-S.C. Martinez