Do You Have the (official) Time?

We may have been told

The world stopped

But time

Didn’t.

Not at first.

Official time,

Time officially,

Always exists protected

Under glass

Under plastic

Keys winding,

twis

ting

lock

i

n

g

Clicks are not ticks.

Snowflake crisp

Rain drip

Leaves shed wisps.

I lifted my watch from my drawer

On my first afternoon

Out.

Yellow shoes

Clouded sun

Not out

Shaded. Masked.

Yet

Inside the white rimmed

Plastic

Pretending to be

Glass

I stared to check the hour.

My hour,

Unofficially,

As invented as the feeling

Of winter midnight at

5:00 p.m.

Closing time.

Was I late too?

Only compared to some.

Too

To notice

It was time

To stop the world.

The watch had been a gift,

Beautiful.

The watch had been a passport,

Reliable.

The watch had been a standard,

Artificial.

On my white watch

Time stopped

Not officially,

Only for me.

The salesman claimed

Batteries under glass were guaranteed

Forever.

Proved by #s and paper

Protected.

Now another card

Claims

The same promises

Wrist. Arm.

But, mostly in my

Hands.

Heel clicks are not ticks.

Needle pinch.

Tight lipped

Truths trip

Official time,

Time officially,

Always promises

Under glass

Under plastic

Something next coming,

grow

ing

never

end

i

n

g

Stepping through the glass.

Worlds’ doors pushed,

Tugged,

Maybe flung,

Open.

My watch is still beautiful

Constructed to meet its purpose

But, still broken.

I keep it in my drawer.

Without my watch

I check the official time,

No longer the same time,

To quit.