i wake up startled. i'm expecting to hear the alarm that will signal that it's time for me to drag my ass out of bed. the alarm isn't there, it's been shut off. i roll over to wake jackie and tell her that we need to get up, and she's not there.

i woke from a dream of school. all the elements of school were there. but it wasn't college, or even high school. it was junior high. the busses, all in line waiting to take the students home, were there, even though it was only lunch time. i was walking in the building, and i heard the bell that signaled the change of classes. i wondered which period it was, and if i was too late to get lunch.

i saw my principal, but he didn't notice me. the school seceratary walked by, but didn't notice me either. i walk towards the bathroom, stopping outside he door. on the door, there's a blue poster proclaiming what appears to be an open mic night, but it doesn't say open mic anywhere on it. something about a poetry writing night, something that wouldn't have seemed out of place in college, but seemed completely out of the blue here in junior high.

the sign was blue, and it stuck out over the edge of the door making it almost seem as it if should have been a sign proclaiming that the bathroom was closed. i open the door to make sure, and the door opens. the bell rings again, signaling the start of the next class. i wonder if i'm late.


it's funny, a person will go through life associating bells and alarms that signal the start and end of school. the bell that rings in the morning to signal that you're supposed to be in homeroom. the one that signals the end of the day, or the end of recess. the one that tells you that it's your turn to go to lunch. you go through your day waiting for those bells, and when they are not there, you are lost.

nowadays, the only bell that i bend any part of my life to is the one that wakes me up in the morning. if it's not there, i'm suddenly lost for the day. i think back to my school days, and it's the bells that i remember. the bells that somehow signify time periods of the day.

the alarms of life.