A Confusing Thought

replaced the incandescent bulb

in the bedroom closet

changed the air filters

throughout the house

watered plants that

size to fill

empty rooms

washed a few windows

peering out

a neighbor warns me

now and again

that time does not exist

says it’s just an idea

we manipulate to measure space

a notion we invent to plot

our uneven and meandering pace

between each birth and death

i can’t wait at each encounter

at the garbage pails for his

soliloquy to be over

a woman from long ago

frustrated about something

i did or didn’t do back then

(i’m not sure which)

yelled at me once that

those who refuse to live

never end up dead

it was a confusing thought

but shortly after she

spoke the words she left

without an explanation 

and now is gone