atmospheric brooding

even outside
it is still

two in the morning

the heat
has imposed itself

air
is a commodity
in short supply
and there is a weight
as of water
as of an atmosphere
residing on me

what am I doing
awake at this hour
of brooding

perhaps it’s my work
where the lives in my hands
are at a teeter point
with my employees

on the scales

will they stay
will they go

will I decide

perhaps it’s as simple
as having fallen asleep in the evening
before the usual hour

that happens sometimes
I know

or maybe it’s the ghost
who returned yesterday
demanding new payment
for a debt I’d long abandoned

but

a debt
that I carry

a price
that awakes me at two
in a morning
that broods

---

© Frank Prem, 2007

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