back in five (16/6/24)

I’m made from material
of unknown origin
some call it stardust
some call it skin and bones
some call it atoms
some call it sticks and stones
while some settle for sticky stuff
but I know better
I am made up of space
of empty, of void,
of gaps so a-plenty
as to be without up
or down,
or side
or other side,
I know better
I am inside out
a figment
a passing,
a product of wild imagining,
a here today
gone tomorrow
a where was I
when this or that happened
a back in the day
a song of yore
a fleeting glimpse
peripheral glint
a past unpresent
a future
not very forthcoming
if I were the only
boy in the world
and you were the only girl
would I be Adam
and would you be Eve
if that was the case
how strange it would be,
I’m one step removed
dead and alive
I’m here when I’m not
and not when I am
a mote in the eye
a note that reads,
“I’ll be back in five”….

© 2024 robert greig