Minutes Before Six
By David Mims
It was minutes before six and my vision was tunneled
The lights seemed to dim all around me
To me it felt hurried, down halls I was funneled
It sure looked like the reaper had found me
Idly I pondered what he or she looked like
As I enter the chamber of doom
For even though others were present this night
I felt cold and alone in the room
I knew there’d be glass and beyond it the faces
Of those who wished hate on my soul
The eyes of a million from hidden dark places
Applauding for whom the bell tolls
But I also knew there would be others obsessing
To assure I would not feel alone
Even some deeming such fate undeserving
An original crime, only cloned
So I searched the expressions for farewell to ends
Unbarbed by the vengeance of old
And dreamed of a lifetime where we were all friends
And stories like mine were untold
Where actions I pondered were surely untaken
And lessons like these never learned
Decisions more grand, unbidden, unshaken
Had now what I’d done not occurred…
With visions of love and regrets being few
My candles burnt low on their wicks
I would ask your forgiveness and bid you adieux
Stage left, just Minutes Before Six
My Doors
By David Mims
Loneliness stalked me, so I grabbed ahold of it and it tried to flee.
Loneliness can’t be itself if it has a companion, I figured.
Holding onto it made it’s heart bigger and it hated me for it.
So I searched around in my own and found a place to store it.
Out of nowhere a woman came to me, she wanted a friend.
Or so she said, and there’s no such place as nowhere, anyway.
Be careful, my wish when we seek to be rescued,
One millionth part love’s not a joke, it’s just rude.
This steel is my bones, the concrete my skin, the sound of the gun, my heartbeat.
Grassless expanses of dirt and stone in the heat with scorpions’ stings.
A cyclone is much less than a storm when you’re staring through one.
But don’t stare too long or hear the12 gauge snaps, metallic, get a move on.
What the hell kind of woman could deal with all this binding
Would I be wrong to try and find her for this pallid of offers
A shield from the loneliness so many have been killed with
I will never leave you, I am eternally yours.
Welcome to the inside of me, these are my doors.
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