Frank Prem

the purpose (of the St Nemom machine)

it was
a queer contraption

 

clear sides

 

a box
of sorts

 

nothing within
but a kind of
vortex machinery
spinning incessantly
in a direction that
when looked at closely
appeared to be
backward

 

from an open-funnel arrangement
came a strange sound
oddly attractive
seeming somehow sad
and melancholy
creating the sensation
of a tang
on the tip of the tongue

 

like the sharp and slightly fruity
taste
of a sunny day
in a distant
young Spring

 

and the sound

 

the song

 

also seemed
backward

 

I asked the man
what he was doing
what his machine
was meant to achieve

 

do you
have time

 

do you have
enough time
sir?

 

I do not

 

he said

 

this machine
the St Nemom machine
is a storage unit
for stray moments

 

consider
all the wasted time
that washes around us
around the world

 

so very much of it

 

the St Nemom
draws it in
captures and contains it

 

and sir
when I judge
it is enough

 

why then

 

then

 

the future
will be mine

 

~