Serious question—

Did time stop?

I know it looks like I’m busy.

Answering emails,
    debugging production outages,
    chastising good intentions on meetings,

    watching Slack notifications scroll by.

But the clock’s been stuck
    at the same impossible time
    for at least three meetings,
              two coffee breaks,

    and 12 nervous checks of the weather.

This can’t be normal.

Someone call NASA.

Check with Einstein.
    Maybe it’s relativity—
    maybe anticipation bends space-time…

    maybe we're stuck in a rom-com written by physicists?

Or maybe the universe just likes
    seeing me stare at the clock,
    begging the minutes to pick up their feet…

    my hoodie starting to feel like a weighted blanket with trust issues.

Either way—

Whatever it is— (who cares, at this point?)

Time stopped.

And it won’t start again…
    until _your_ smile hits the other side of *that* door.