“Inside”

We pondered /

the miracles of progress /

From particle accelerators /

To ice cream on a stick, in summer /

And cellphone speakers /

Streamed urgent news

We recalled /

As calendars emptied /

Blogs about too-fast lives /

From last weeks year /

Too soon to call it all /

Too scared to pull back /

And just see who calls /

We feared /

The weight of time gifted, no excuses /

Start that novel, plant a seed /

Make that call /

long rehearsed

But we knew /

Now, if we couldn’t lift the pen /

Turn the soil /

Raise the phone /

chest tight

In this pause /

when nothing was certain /

The one thing we knew was /

That we never would