By Tima Smallwood
Waking up to a day already planned
Morning held hostage by time
Afraid of being late
No time for calls, dinner waiting
You rushing out the door
Hitting the streets, cold on your back
Frost cutting your face
Hours outside
Running to clock in
Boss in your ear
Rambling about things
about nothing
“Stop being so difficult,”
“you lucky to have this job,”
his breath warm and sour
his finger tapping the clipboard
like a metronome
Words slipping through
a warded hole
Time stretching
Thinning
Dragging
Refusing
to
move
Quick breaks
Dinner chats
foil peeling back
steam rising
plastic forks scraping
stained Tupperware
microwave humming
light flickering
you stirring your food
without tasting it
flicker light
fork scraping
your hunger
waiting
time
not
Read an interview with Tima Smallwood here.
Shatima Smallwood is a student at LaGuardia majoring in biology. Her English professor inspired her to start writing and to submit her work. Instagram handle: Tima Marcus.
