Colleen M. Farrelly & Terri L. French

Losing Time

I beg the ER nurse behind the desk to hold him until he gets a psych evaluation. “Is he of danger to himself?” she asks. “What do you think?” I ask. “He OD’d, this isn’t the first time. He’s psychotic.” I point my finger at her face. “You…” That’s when my husband pulls me away, takes me to the parking garage to sit in the car and wait. Until the automatic doors finally slide open and he staggers out.

one more last chance
nothing left to take
the edge off

He calls me a few dozen times and then goes silent. I call him back after classes. “The number you dialed cannot be reached.” His phone is at the pawn shop (again)—somewhere past the bridge, past the railroad tracks, past the trailers scattered beneath a canopy of walnut trees. He’s probably nearby physically with whatever he hasn’t pawned, but, mentally, he’s in another time and place.

naked singularity
we stare into a black hole

---

About the Authors

Colleen M. Farrelly is a poet from Miami, Florida, who writes about her life so far (mostly haibun). A mathematician by day and the author of The Shape of Data (No Starch Press, 2023), she is a 2025-26 confluence fellow who has published her work in Rattle, MacQueen’s Quinterly, and scifaikuest, among others. She likes swimming, surfing, and science fiction.

Terri L. French is a poet/writer and retired massage therapist. After several years as full-time RVers, she and her husband, Ray, settled down in 2025 on a wooded lot with a little stream on an eclectically populated mountain in Huntsville, Alabama. Her books include kaleidoscope dream (Red Moon Press), which won an Honorable Mention in the 2025 Touchstone Awards.

---