James Babbs writes

Start Here

start here I thought

and see what happens

because it’s cold down here

but this is where I like to stay

I like it down here

because there are no windows

no places for me to look out

but that also means

nobody can see inside either

and it’s dark down here

if I don’t turn on the lights

I have plenty of them

but sometimes I like to leave them off

and sit down here in the darkness

alone

it’s quiet down here

if I don’t play any music

I can sit on the couch

and hear the ticking of the clock

one of those old-fashioned kind of clocks

with hands and a face

and big numbers from one to twelve

it was my Mother’s clock

I gave it to her one year for Christmas

but after she died

I went through some of her things

and ended up bringing the clock home with me

the clock was made so you can

record messages on it

a different message for each hour of the day

I meant to put some messages on the clock

even wrote down a couple of them

I thought were really clever

but one thing led to another

I hung the clock up on the wall

but never recorded any of the messages

--Simon Fernandez