Imprinted

The day slipping away
as though it had a place to slip
as if it mattered
this difference
between ten and two

A remnant of other times
when moments were blistered
and a hot breath at my neck
hurried me on
into an immediate current

And still it tugs at corners
of my unconscious
when it's conscious
like a call from the kitchen
to get up and going

Imprinted like a migratory bird
to come back to the hatching
on automatic wings
swinging in
to the busyness of business

So much for migrations
at least for the time
I'll stay south
and watch the others
beat their wings