Twenty-Six

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Twenty-six hours in one place.
A place meant for passing through.
Lines hold.
Bodies stay.
Seats fill and empty, then fill again.
No place to rest a head.
Stone underfoot, worn and uneven.

Plans fall off in succession,
and the schedule unravels
until it no longer holds.
“Before” and “after” persist,
but without force.
They can’t divide the hours anymore.

Everything runs together.
What’s left is the stretch,
the body within it,
the surface beneath it,
and the hours extending and passing, unchanged.

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Twenty-Six
By: Kerry Ann Wiley

Time stays.
Past the point it should.

—

Twenty-six hours.
It doesn’t divide.

Twenty-six hours.
No before.
No after.

—

The chairs are hard.
Made for short use.

No pillow.
Just a head
with nowhere to rest.

Stone under everything.
Worn, not smooth.
Cobblestone holding.

Four cancellations.
Plans removed.
Spaces left.

Before.
After.
Systems placed over it.
Time divided after the fact.

—

Things don’t line up.
Voices land slightly off.

A voice repeats
before it finishes.

Meaning takes longer.

Silence feels different.
Not wrong.

Red and blue lights in view.
No message.
Just color.

—

Waiting changes scale.
Small things stand out
longer than they should.

The body notices first.
Pressure remains.

The mind keeps moving,
but returns to the same place.

Nothing settles.
Not even briefly.

The place for passing through
remains as is.

The lines are still set,
but they no longer lead anywhere.

They hold their positions
without directing anyone.

Bodies linger
instead of moving on.

Seats turn over,
briefly taken
and quickly abandoned.

Announcements repeat,
steady and unchanging.

Nothing resets.

The cancellations stand.
Bodies keep contact
with the chair.

Time passes,
but it goes nowhere.

Still.

Time remains.
Unmoved.

---

The place for passing through remains as is.
The lines are still set, but they no longer lead anywhere.
They hold their positions without directing anyone.
Bodies linger instead of moving on.
Seats turn over, briefly taken and quickly abandoned.
Announcements repeat, steady and unchanging.
Nothing resets.
The cancellations stand.
Bodies keep contact with the chair.

Time passes, but it goes nowhere.

Still.

Time remains.
Unmoved.

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