Time Out Of Joint

The room hummed with future-talk,

faces lit by screens, blinking fast

like city lights I no longer chase.

They spoke of retro—my school years,

a time I barely name without a shiver.

Laughter felt like an old coat,

threads loose, seams pulling down my spine.

My knees ached with every joke

I wasn’t in on, each slang a lock

clanging shut, leaving me in the cold.

I caught the ache in my hips,

a dull drum reminding me

I’m the echo in this room’s new song,

oldest breath in a crowded silence,

watching time laugh without me.