One Way Tickets
dan raphael
I couldn’t find a round trip ticket
I went back 40 years but stayed my present age
what kind of edge is that, an indigenous adage
used as a wedge to scoop up crumbs
or keep the door from slamming in the wind of the next minute
take a corner, turn around, or wait for the border to cross me
standing at the same place, the same time, for hundreds of days
the weather won’t change until I do
the wind neither goes around or through me
I’m too one-temperature to matter
wouldn’t weigh a thing if not for this planet
finally the mountain is making its move
the ocean has vacancy signs all over the place
but keeps raising its prices, absence increasing in value
as the supply dwindles except in the mind market
how can yesterday and tomorrow be the same day
manual transmissions are gone, it’s all automatic, digital
I can’t count fingers fast enough
naked in the mirror I’m just shelves
unlit, deeper than any arm, jars that’ve been filled
with a series of different things but seldom relabeled
no inventory, expiration dates too faded to read
and why would I believe them
it’s my move but I don’t know which piece I am
or how far I’m allowed to go
or how far the game extends
~ ~ ~
SEPT 2026
dan raphael
I couldn’t find a round trip ticket
I went back 40 years but stayed my present age
what kind of edge is that, an indigenous adage
used as a wedge to scoop up crumbs
or keep the door from slamming in the wind of the next minute
take a corner, turn around, or wait for the border to cross me
standing at the same place, the same time, for hundreds of days
the weather won’t change until I do
the wind neither goes around or through me
I’m too one-temperature to matter
wouldn’t weigh a thing if not for this planet
finally the mountain is making its move
the ocean has vacancy signs all over the place
but keeps raising its prices, absence increasing in value
as the supply dwindles except in the mind market
how can yesterday and tomorrow be the same day
manual transmissions are gone, it’s all automatic, digital
I can’t count fingers fast enough
naked in the mirror I’m just shelves
unlit, deeper than any arm, jars that’ve been filled
with a series of different things but seldom relabeled
no inventory, expiration dates too faded to read
and why would I believe them
it’s my move but I don’t know which piece I am
or how far I’m allowed to go
or how far the game extends
~ ~ ~
SEPT 2026
