If Coffee Shop Could Open

If coffee shop could open

 

If coffee shop could open would time still be there

for one macchiato,

standing at counter elbow to elbow,

before armor-piercing ammo penetrates bricks?

And isn’t it disgusting asking this

while dying goes on somewhere else?

Coyote, stuck in this yard, can’t open gate

hen turkey perches on back fence without asking

crows caw from above

I go out, thinking keep stupid legs moving

keep stupid heart beating

mind will think thoughts of the past but

I don’t have to believe

don’t let them land, keep them circling

till out of ammo or perfume

one of these is in short supply

all the perfume has been hoarded by yesterday

how inviting one could hope to be,

how inviting you were, before

now touchless for the duration

I would come home but can’t find street signs

and news is too distracting

trying to leave it’s always the same

first turn, wrong turn

even when I decide to go the wrong way

can’t outsmart stupid mind

maneuvering only postpones the truth

if coyote cannot figure it out who am I

no leaving this strange place, no going home