Another Second or Twelve

If only I had
another second or twelve
to think of how to
respond and do so
accordingly to fit
what the circumstances needed
so I could change the response
that ended in me defeated,
I needed that extra
moment to think
but it couldn't be afforded
before time did sink.
The sentence required
an altered structure
for an outcome to change
to lead to an alternate future.
That future was optimistically
anticipated ahead
of its fruition
that is now dead.
The plan I had
fell on its face
before it left
its starting place.
If only I could
have had the time
to speak exactly
what was on my mind,
but alas I acted
far too slowly
for thoughts to turn to words
in a motion planned so poorly.

As Text from the Past

You hand me a letter
of what I know it contains.
It is full of heartbreak
and unrequested pain.
It tells of the reasons
and explains the excuses
of why we should run
away from the muses.
It expressed the feelings
in words unworthy
so a face-to-face encounter
full of controversy
won't have to occur
or happen between us,
as the easy way out
is your preference of choices.
You hand me this paper
and stand before me
awaiting my reading
that will not happen quickly.
I put it down
on the ground by my side
with intentions of reading
when the pain no longer resides.
I'll let you walk away
without my knowledge of the contents
where explanations arise
that are nothing but nonsense.
I'll read it in the future
as text from the past
because it's too hard in the present
that came to be too fast.