Afternoon

Hurry! Refill my coffee before the clock strikes four.
Otherwise I may be awake after a reasonable bed time.
And my gut bacteria will have their revenge,
for they demand their time to play alone at night.
Consciousness demands an answer when it calls,
though always from an unknown number
and freely willing, I will not answer.
Rather I will sit here
and write the things that seem to be the answer
to that call that went to voice mail
and it turns out
they are the same words
when I finally listen to the message.