Timely

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Timely


We begin with unmitigated contact,
then permanent separation.

Our growing away from each other
is divine, yet is personal too.

Everyone knows her before she becomes
my teacher. My mom is -capital I- Involved.

Tempus fugit.
Yes, Ovid, for us too.

The growing apart lays open
an ever deepening ocean between us.

The kind into which we both want to dip our toes.
We wave our hands frantically from each shore.

I see her in her Trump hat, her fear of MS13.
I think she can see me here, but she’s refusing

to read my signage. Margaret Johnson says
“Time is a fixed income—“ Mom budgets on the back 

of Sunday’s prayers. “—The problem facing most of us is how to live within our daily allotment.” 

We begin believing ourselves inseparable.
Are we, alas, wrong?   

In response to the prompt "Time and Again, 11th Annual Getaway 2004"  by Peter Murphy found in his collection called Challenges for the Delusional, edited by Christine Malvasi.  

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