Half-Life

Half-Life - a noun:
Physics. The time required for half the nuclei in a sample of a specific
isotopic species to undergo radioactive decay.
Biology. The time required for half the quantity of a drug or other substance
deposited in a living organism to be metabolized or eliminated by normal
biological processes. Also called biological half-life.
General. The time required for the radioactivity of material taken in by a living organism to be reduced to half its initial value by a combination of
biological elimination processes and radioactive decay.

The distance of a midwestern winter
is a marathon to run -
something you're not entirely sure
you can endure
until it's done
the days
edged in by darkness
and filled with sheer tedium
naked and forlorn
as any pantyhose you've worn.

The morning alarm is
a harsh wool coat
rubbing up against cottoned dreams,
and coming to consciousness
your day's duties line up
like the blazers
hanging in silent closet march.

So you put on that uniform
pour caffeine down your throat
and slamming out the door
weighted down walking to your car
that may not start
you are jealous of your cat
that you left lounging on the bed
with a face like christmas.

It's your coal in the stocking
the bitter disappointment
to wake up from the dream of childhood
and find that this is all there is -
cubical living and business shoes
clicking with authority on
a marble floor - the formality of
meetings and presentations
and forced austerity
all that business-speak
reining in the
the dangerous power of your
better, your best words
and the longing for more.

It's like a nuclear power plant:
your heart winking in the night
and nothing but
radioactive decay
in the morning.