Your Mother Always Told You Not To Take The Last One

There is far more anxiety in the last time
This last one
Than in any of the fourteen virgins in heaven
Who by now are bored and thirsty
With lips as dry as stone.

The first is clearly marked on the map
Go three miles turn left
At the gas station
Then sigh and check the time
And it’s the first.

The mind can only remember
The first and the last
This one is important
Not like your driver’s test
More like your wedding pictures.

It’s not going to hurt
And the risk is to follow the well-worn path
Your age relies on muscle memory
And there is no creativity in a jungle
When there is no need for a machete.

In a world based on first impressions
Who’s there to help the florist
Clean the ruined stalks and scattered petals
May the last impression
Be the reflowering.

He takes a breath
Then sips the cup of coffee
He
Then sits the cup of coffee.