By: E. Martin Pedersen

It’s a week or ten or a month or ten years
My God. Come quick! It’s a miracle, he returns.
Hi everybody, what time is it? Take me home.
New decade, new pres, let’s see, Rowan an’ Martin still on?
The viva la raza mural on the side of the movie theater’s still there
though flaking badly,
Sno-White Drive-In became a Chicken Shack,
The Mall still its little planet – Starship Enterprise – looks smaller now
With the Forgiveness Church across the street (they never move churches)
big old trees in front gone,
University still houses the library
Rubens librarian with the braid still at the front desk?
man, I’d like to check her out,
like I checked out this book on parallel universes

Have you seen my parents lately?
Is my brother still mad at me
over that silly misunderstanding with his wife,
That retarded guy in middle school who knew everything about Italian racing bikes,
I bet my erector-set nephew’s not a kid anymore
baseball player maybe
Is my dog, Lucy, okay?
I don’t see anyone I know here

Am I slipping, slipping back in
Another ticket to ride, back
Back to the other side of the worm hole
In and out of the coma with a passport and
Luggage coming out
In, out