This Is the World We Live in Tomorrow

Before you enter this run-
down house, drink caffeine.
As you approach,
ignore baseball-busted
window on second floor—
you’ll never leave first. Follow
creaky path down dank hall
to third door, the only room
with blue lights dimmed. Take
a seat before the console
of your choice. Start to play
don’t stop. Don’t eat. Don’t
sleep. Let time escape
like the caged bird
from my bedroom,
the last heart-beating thing
touched by anyone
who’s ever come here.

Laurie Kolp, author of Upon the Blue Couch (Winter Goose Publishing, 2014) and Hello, It’s Your Mother (Finishing Line Press, 2015), serves as president of Texas Gulf Coast Writers and treasurer for the Poetry Society of Texas’ local chapter. Laurie’s publications include Gargoyle, Yellow Chair Review, Scissors & Spackle, North Dakota Quarterly, Found Poetry Review, Pirene’s Fountain, and more. She lives in Southeast Texas with her husband, three children and two dogs.