The Six-Second Rule Poem by Jerry Ratch

They come to the new world
but bring the old world
with them
The six-second rule

When their bagel drops
face down
on the café floor
apparently it’s the old world
six-second rule that applies
instead of our own
more modern
three-second one

Here, especially if you’ve
smeared cream cheese
on your bagel
and it falls face down
you’ve only got
three seconds to retrieve it
and examine whether any
schmutz is sticking to it
If not – what the heck
we wolf that baby down

But not in Europe. There
things are slower
and you’ve got a full
six seconds
a lifetime, more or less
like a lazy afternoon
in Firenze, say
or Berlin, or Amsterdam
No one in a hurry
Six full seconds to pick up
the roaches
ants, mouse droppings
toothpicks and hair
whatever

The tourist picks it up
stares at the surface
checking for obvious lumps, etc
then checks the ground itself
to see how much stuff
there is covering the floor –
not bad apparently –
then he laughs
and looks at his wife
lover or friend

She’s shaking her head
and he mutters a joke
about the six-second rule
in any other language
but ours
He’s going to be kissing her
later with that same
mouth, and she knows it
and finally she too
laughs, the girl with
the pearl earring and
mouth full of
cream cheese