Elapsed

you only really think of this word

in terms of time,

in terms of

what is behind us

and what is in front of us,

but the word oozes

a sense of disaster

of calamity folding in on itself 

over and over and over again,

it pulls you apart like taffy

because you are technically

moving forward 

but you are infinitely tethered 

to this moment 

and this one 

and this one 

and that one.