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.