Expiration Date

EXPIRATION DATE
© Jim Molinelli

[Verse 1]
He checks his suit and tie, in the mirror in the hallway,
Down the red brick steps, then turns toward the subway.
Stops at the cart on the corner, for a coffee and a donut
Hands the man a crisp twenty, but panics when he looks up!

Five pairs of red numbers, float above the vendors head,
Wants to yell ‘What the hell is that?,’ but then he stops dead.
The right hand number gets lower by one minute…
And it seems like he is the only one who’s seen it!

[Verse 2]
He scurries toward the subway, scared out of his mind.
Grips the cold steel rail, like a drowning man’s lifeline.
Isn’t sure what he saw, might be better left unsaid.
Looking up ‘clocks of red’ now float above every head.

The hot coffee scalds his leg as his cup hits the ground.
Each shows a different time, and each one is counting down…
The scene on the platform as he goes through the turnstile…
Is a sea of red above the head... of man, woman, and child!!!

[Bridge]
He stops! He looks straight up, he doesn't see a clock.
Just a buzzing ceiling light… then it hits him like a rock.
He races to the men’s room drawing curious stares.
But he still can't see his timer in the grimy mirror there.

“Every person has red numbers, counting down their time.
And I see all their timers… so, why can't I see mine?”

[Verse 4]
Back out on the platform, he begins to get it.
The clocks display the years, months, days… hours and the minutes.
Some folks have decades left. Some have years and others less.
And when their train arrives, they pack inside, oblivious.

The smiling girl to his left, holds her lunch and phone,
She’s lip-syncing a song, as if she were alone…
Faint notes leak from her earbuds. She moves to what she hears.
When he looks at her numbers… just 4:17 appears.
He stares at her, his lips apart… She smiles... then he smiles back.
But then the train enters the tunnel... lights flicker... and it all goes black!