a_matter_of_time raze you fold a dark fabric wet with the strange syrup your body made and set it down beside you on the couch. its smaller sibling sits to the right without anyone to weigh it down. you think you feel a cold coming on. maybe it's only fear that's made you weak. your mother mocks you. she talks about what a gift it would be if a stranger came to the door and you left with them and were never seen again. she gets her wish. a man shows up looking like most of his mind is somewhere else. black leather jacket unzipped. grey hair still clinging to the contours of his crown. he asks to speak to jack. you tell him there's no jack here, but you'd be glad to take his place. he holds out his hand. it feels frail in the plush prison of your own. he grabs your wrist and turns it to see the digital dial of the watch you wore when you were too young to care about the minutes and miles that brought you to where you were. he asks how accurate it is. he gets to work recalibrating it before you can answer. he manipulates uneven lines on a screen you've never seen. says you can't trust a clock that hasn't been through hell. it's lighter than it should be when you leave the house. the man reverts to the pudgy child he once was. he ties a rope around your waist. loops what's left around his own. this is how you move through time. he walks ahead. you lag behind. you shorten the leash and let him lead you. the aim is to generate enough torque to make yourself a human slingshot. you can't say if you'll find the_future or the_past on the other side of this scheme. you only know you'll live a whole lifetime in another realm, while here a day or two will pass at best. you wind up where you used to live, a block from the school that tried to break you. a woman stands on the sidewalk. belted and abandoned by whoever she trusted to help her leave this_place. you breathe into her open mouth like you're hoping for a hot meal to cool and watch her disappear. it can't be so simple. but it is. all anyone needs is a nudge. your guide is gone. your timepiece pilfered. another woman walks your way. such sadness in her face. i love you, boy, she says. and though you've hardly had time to mark the moment in your memory, you love her too. you feel it fill your lungs. she gathers her guts and unburdens herself of all the breath she's been saving for this moment. you wonder who you'll be when you open your eyes. 260301 what's it to you? who go blather from