I am an expert at wasting time

give me yours, I will use it all up

too quickly and too quietly for you to notice

I can eat hours, gorge on them,

become fat on their fullness

and spit out fleshless bones

If you’re watching, you might

never see me move, but the clock

will slow in time with my breathing

On this park bench where Poe once sat

with quiet dread occupying each heart beat

and the length of the space between them

You might notice then

the edges of the day begin to stretch

like paint round the edges of a taut canvas

darkness now dressing each bone

while the leaves grow once more on the trees

and yesterday’s starlight falls on the empty seat.