Escape Wheel

                          heat flooded a day stuffed
                          with macaroons a lake
                          & the clock shop where
                          we weighed beauty & doubt


strangely absent    a habit around
my wrist   it pressed time on me
its absence a reminder of place & sound

from years ago    I remember
how hard it was to set    how
the broken stem always broke my thumbnail
                                                        rendered

the watch useless for changing time
its escape wheel less steadfast than the bamboo
shoots I count on to remind

my lavender it’s spring    the watch escaped
its own time    another good thing
punctuality always too much a race

for us    once the ratchet wheel stopped
for five    or was it six months
we stopped too    our wheels did not
                                          mesh

now I move with the fleeting light
on the Sandias    the alpenglow
so fragile it dissipates to night

in seconds    you have to hurry to see it
& think how quickly Jerry left
erasing    the watchface    the numerals    a habit

strangely gone
                    still breathwarm

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