Five Hours Poem by Ruth Walters

1st hour
.
In the hour before work,
she bathes her children,
feeds them,
calms their worries.
.
In the hour before work
they drive to Grandma's,
wave to her,
ask if she's okay? '
.
In the hour before work
she takes them
to school,
picks up a colleague,
.
drops her
off at work
before she starts
her own day.
.
Tomorrow,
she'll do it
all again.....
in an hour.
.
2nd Hour
.
In this hour
he'll pick up
two strangers,
seat them
in the back,
take them
wherever they
wish to go.
.
At 1 minute past
the hour
he'll be unemployed.
This is his last hour.
>>>>>>>
3rd Hour
.
She bore him
3 children, two boys
and a girl
with, sweet, blue eyes.
.
Within the next
60 minutes he'll tell
her how he's leaving,
can't bear to be
without his mistress,
break her world
in two.
.
At 10am she was whole.
It's 11 now.
Big Ben's chime
leaves a hollow clang.
>>>>>>>

4th Hour
.
Singing in the shower,
there's a strange smell,
a significant odour.
The alarm sounds.
She grabs a towel,
descends the stairs,
sees a white, smoky mist.
Running up and down
in fearful panic,
she opens the door
of a large cupboard.
The fuse box is on fire.
Wits take charge
as she turns off the power.
Help is at the end of a telephone line
but for now, she's all alone.
tears flowing, in her dressing gown.
>>>>>>>>>>>

5th Hour
.
We all have our own hours,
some good, some not.
Some don't have that,
they blink and the
lights go out.
Nobody knows
what the man in the
shabby shirt went through.
That was his hour.