pause

You hesitate and the bees stop buzzing
The weedwhacker goes completely silent
but I can still see that string spinning around
A thousand miles an hour
The traffic is gone too, the birds,
the wind, the sounds of life in the garden and beyond
zip down to nothing
but the quick thud as the blood pumps
a half beat of oxygen
through my heart and lungs
I wait, and wait and wait
And wait
For everything to start again
To feel the air rush back like a prayer into me
For the icy statue of my body to succumb to the hot sun
And melt into a puddle at your feet