Waiting (December 22, 2015)

Waiting
for an appointment
can be like waiting
for spring or triple
A, when I’ve locked
my keys in the
ignition with the
engine running.
Knowing that
eventually
the gas is
going to run
out

Or, it can feel like
watching your old
business cards
burn in a fireplace.
Once the paper
catches, the white
turns orange and
curls like a
rose petal until
the edge turns
out and the glow
fades to black.

For fun, I folded
two business cards
together and tossed
them into the flames.

I watched the papers
burn at the same speed
but with a rippled
turn to the edge.
I suppose the lack
of oxygen between the
two sheets of card
must make the paper
burn differently.

The orange is the color of
an old pumpkin holding its
seeds for the compost pile.

The heat on my face
feels good, a contrast to
the cold on my back
from the chilly room.

After the initial panic
and the knowledge that
there is nothing you can
do patience creeps in
and you learn to wait.

Paper, like wood, turns
to ash after a fire
touches it. Most things do.

It’s the half burned
charcoal that can be
useful to draw with.
I have a can of fireplace
coal with a purpose.

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