525,600 minutes later

in Ourglass

it took me
2 seconds to dial
3 rings for an answer
approximately 7 minutes to hear
that I should be nowhere
near O'Hare
in 14 years.
time is relative.
they say
to make perfume from an iris-
you have to mash the roots
but leave the petals
intact.
the only thing
that lives is
the fragrance
of such a grisly task.
it took us 12 weeks
to learn that
some skeletons
are not made
only of bone.
and once you know
where they rest-
should neither be
unearthed
or buried.