the time in the mind 12/5/19

the time in the mind

is the time between page turns,

is as short as that seemed then.

maybe a moist finger dabbed

and a contact with torque in a wrist turn

is that time spent between. 

the word procession spoken inwardly,

as if self read

is feeding this narrative unfolding

as not even that notice is involved.

a gait moving in an otherwise procession

is that insignificant short span of time.

the time in the mind,

between screen views,

either by scroll

or by the contact with keys

and images come and are gone.

and another appears in its place.

the readied reentry into cognition

is as comprehension finds its place,

as if in the sequence proceeding.

the time in mind,

is between otherwise content loads of attention,

from the mixed media of phone in hand,

as transfixed small screen images, 

up close and facing.

yet in that ritual, 

producing the time in mind 

between attention grabbed 

and interest pursuing,

there that time.

imagine that time in decades passing,

images that flood in memory

and then all that space in between.

and suddenly the impact of that time

is not occupied with forefront content,

just distance 

in long views, 

apparently empty frames

yielding us hints at self-consciousness.

the who of us is there for the viewing.

for the mind-spin of occupancy

and then the intermittent fallbacks

as the carriage of that being,

through all of these encores of interest

and then there, in receivership,

is the who of the time in mind.

in witness to that time in mind,

that was ever so short terms of empty

but yet constant, behind the apparent occupancy

that being of mental carriage is in going forward.

and then, as if now,

coming to realize the full extent

of that time in mind.

time in the mind,

without the distractedness of mindful interest,

without the zeal of next moments to fill,

without the narrative standing on information delivered.

just now of then,

as of so many thens

that were steadfast in absence, 

an anchor of being without broadcast relevance.

but there, for every page, 

every screen view,

and every attention grab,

for the all of it. 

realized as the backdrop 

of thought-wardrobe’s fashion.

and for now, 

the time in mind,

is naked in the being,

wearing just a hint of realization . . .