He ruminated in his chair
Smoke effervescing off his age hardened hand

He put the cigarette to his lips
Again, he dropped it to the arm of his recliner
Strangely reminiscent of putting key to lock

The ping of microwaved popcorn
The TV echoed his disbelief of time,
But continued to spew its mindless chatter

The click of a recliner retracting
A waved hand as he breached the smoke filled kitchen
Burnt popcorn.

Too burnt.

Enough burnt to be searing
through the plastic of a microwave

Maybe even burn water

Mad giggles began to bubble,
Echoes of his incredulity

The tunnel of light had
germinated into the smoke
TV light through smoke

A small silhouette blocked the tunnel of light in passing
Paused.


“Grandpa?”

And that’s what made him move;
Unplug the microwave
Pour out a gallon of water to squelch the fire
And hug his grandson.