A Tense Encounter

The past, the present, the future

Walk into the bar, shadows trailing

Behind them like whispers of lost

Hours, a clock's ticking heartbeat.

The past orders a drink, heavy

With the weight of forgotten sins,

Memories clinking in the glass,

Amber ghosts dancing in the light.

The present sits still, fingers

Drumming an anxious beat, eyes

Flickering like candle flames,

Fighting the wind of regret.

The future, elusive as smoke,

Laughs at the tension, a silent

Promise wrapped in mist, unseen,

Yet felt, a cold breath on the neck.

Together they sit, silent and

Apart, each sip a revelation,

A tense truce in the dim light,

Time's barroom, a fleeting pause.