I want to say, “Wait”
you too will suddenly be here
older than the old people
you once called ancient

Wait
as long as you can
in your moment
before that moment
is turned stone

I want to tell them
waiting is slow
but they are in such
hurry
to be somewhere

that when you get there
you find yourself
past tense, recalled
in a book with broken spine

I want to say, wait
in the kiss
in the clasp of flesh
because it melts quickly

wait
in the taste of hunger
to savor its appetite
for you
for all of you–

But instead I say, “Begin,”
And, “It isn’t too late yet?”
smiling adages
with eyes drooping
their shadows of time

And I know
they will stand here
too soon
before remembering
too late to wait

David Anthony Sam lives in Virginia with his wife, Linda. Sam has four collections, was featured poet in The Hurricane Review (2016), and his poetry has appeared in over 70 journals and publications. Finite to Fail: Poems after Dickinson was the 2016 Grand Prize winner of GFT Press Chapbook Contest.