the sort of situation where everything got hurried

i was either going to bed early or going for a walk.
i went for a walk.
i ended up in a church
which i thought was going to be a bar.

inside everyone was praying
as a form of hedging their bets.
and they were all very kind
even though i didn’t know them.
i left because i was afraid to lose myself
in the quiet space between people minding their own business.

outside a storm was coming
i walked home slowly until the rain came hard enough to hear it
and then i tried to walk faster.

there were two houses set farther apart from the others
and dressed as beach houses.

i thought “this is the sort of thing that would be easier in a vacation community.”
i thought about life as it exists in a storage bin
but it was more the phrase than the condition.
time seemed to move like it was being rerouted.
when i got home i saw lightning hit a building
from a distance.