for seventeen hours
or one thousand
and twenty minutes


i counted
i made sure


the bottommost right one flickered
unsatisfied with death
fighting with air
stuck in time

the fireman’s lock
aptly named
oh how it teased
a wonder release

the brilliant doors
that showed me myself
yet showed no way
till i ceased to see


for i fail to remember
which I selected
where I wished to be


as i’m frozen in my puddle
and the glaze grows upon my legs
until i fall to the ceiling
and count no more