Zero

Zero is the number

Of hours I slept

Before a 2:00 AM shuttle

To the airport today.

 

Zero is the number

Of friendly cute girls

In the security line

That I met on the way.

 

Zero is the number

Of lightning storms I missed

Flying into Houston

A half hour late

 

Zero is the number

Of minutes I had

To get from my landing

To my connecting flight’s gate.

 

Zero is the number

Of on-time flights departing

In the 40-plane lineup

That the airport had grown.

 

Zero is the number

That shows up in red

In the battery section

Of my cellular phone.

 

Zero’s the number

In military time

That my plane finally landed

At my final city.

 

Zero is the number

Out of one checked bag

That was at the airport

Waiting for me.

 

Zero is the number

Of poems technically written

By me on Tuesday

June 28.

 

Zero is the number

Of f**ks I give

That this hard-fought travel poem’s

Published 12 minutes late.