Next
by Michael Kennedy
Eons from now
when archeologists dig up
dental offices
and emergency room lobbies
I imagine they will be completely
mystified.
They’ll dust off
the coffee machine
the candy/snack dispenser
the magazines
Better Homes & Gardens
Golf Magazine
National Geographic
Highlights
Perhaps they’ll discover rows of chairs
a sofa or two
and one of those “take a number” machines.
Perhaps Pompei-like bodies
will be sitting there
frozen while turning magazine pages
or texting on their phones.
A curious space for people
to suspend their lives
while waiting for guidance
for their next chapter
that never happened.
Waiting for forever
in a forever waiting room.
Michael Kennedy lives in Portland, Oregon, where he writes poems, plays his mandolin, and takes photographs. He lived in Michigan, Vermont, and Minnesota before moving to Oregon. Over the years, Kennedy has worked as an actor, director, teacher, musician, photographer, and writer.
