"Once Upon a Time" by Peter Leight

Once Upon a Time

there was plenty of time, time for everything we needed time for, walking right through it or sitting through it as if it’s nothing at all, I wish you could have seen it. Every day we moved the furniture around until it was just where we wanted it to be, if you don’t like it you don’t have to leave it is something we said to each other when we talked about our preferences—sometimes we it moved around just to see if we liked it better that way. There’s time to sit down together and tell people what you’re thinking, they don’t think you’re a tool if you tell them something they haven’t even thought of, it doesn’t even matter if you’re home or going home, or not even close to home—I wish you could have been there. Nobody’s making a fuss when you’re not on time, nobody even notices if you’re on time, it’s not the time that drags when you’re waiting, there aren’t even any time slots. If you’re angry or disappointed there’s time to get over it, when you take time off you’re not missing anything you don’t need to fill out a form—nobody’s being a tool or using a toolkit, not even hanging from a toolbar. Every morning we move the furniture around in order to make sure it’s in the right place, if you like it you can leave it as long as you like is something we say to each other, it doesn’t even matter how long it takes: continuing past the time limit if there is one.

peter leight

Peter Leight lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has previously published poems in Paris Review, AGNI, Antioch Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, New World, Tupelo Quarterly, and other magazines.

Headshot: Margaret Bruzelius

Photo Credit: Staff