would you look at the time

her house was
impeccably precise
calculated exactness
with tones of bone white

furniture and carpet
-antiseptic leisure
-fabricated comfort
in bathed light

a stranger knocks
with frenetic pulse -
/a man dressed in black
bleeding from his heart

with momentary shock
she grabs hold
and shoulders the man
down to the foyer floor

blood spills as she
removes her perfect blouse
and repeats, “stay here-
there’s plastic in the garage

lay on the floor, and
try not to bleed too much.”

the man in black
bleeding from his heart
stares a long stare at the
woman without her blouse

and says,“you are
as white as the light-
as white as flesh
can be”

she comes back from the garage
and says “shut up!”
and lays the plastic tarp
on the floor with proficiency

she rolls him over
and places him carefully
with no second to waste
she plunges her hand

into his heart as he screams
pregnant with pain

she grabs hold with determined grip
and pulls it out with force
with instance – the pain subsides
and there it is – dripping blood

…..as she says, “you’re all right
.... it's just
your internal clock … . . . .
there's still time.”