the first time I went back it was night. the building was
still whole. my friend who had no connection

to the place came too. we had planned
to enter, not to steal but to take pictures, to see why

the fluorescent light in the kitchen was always on
but the door was locked. psychologists tell us

that when we pass through a doorway, our memories reset.
when I went the second time there was no longer a door at all.

the building where I spent my first year of high school
was demolished in halves. I know

because I went back twice. the second time I took pictures
through the temporary fence, a clock on the exposed wall
                                                                          
if you zoomed in enough, correcting detail as you did,
you might be able to tell what time it was

but I prefer to go by the clouds passing in the breeze: