Sorry I'm late.
Traffic jam.
5K race.
Protestors.
Space station debris.
Elephant escaped
from zoo.
Vandals transposed
street signs.
GPS jammed
by Martians.
Presidential rally.
Necromancers.
Vampires.
Filipino parade day.
Terrorist attack.
Eclipse of the sun.
Waiting for Godot.
Sinkhole.
Sudden summer
snow shower.
Porta-potty overflow.
Rock concert.
Dam burst.
Drought.
Pamela Anderson.
Virgin Mary sighting.
Funeral.
Second coming.
Look, I'm only late
by five minutes.
But if you figure in
the meteor that smacked
into the Midwest
and briefly stunned
the planet out of its rotation,
I'm actually early.
But, no need
to pay me the extra.
I love my job
and would do it for free.
--
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, Santa Fe Literary Review, and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the Seventh Quarry, La Presa and California Quarterly.