Timeless
I’m learning to tell the time,
says Michael, wheeling round, eyeing each wall.
Where’s the clock?
This room is timeless.
Elsewhere arms elegantly sweep past Roman numerals,
a kitchen clock blinks green digits,
a bedroom alarm clicks staccato,
atomic seconds flick towards double zero
but he wants it here,
ready to be told.
Can we go to the park today?
Yes. When everyone’s finished eating.
When?
Later.
Can we go to the park now?
In five minutes.
When’s that?
Time ticks at my wrist.
I show him it moving,
the position of big hand and little,
where they will need to be
before we go parkwards.
Just five minutes that’s all.
As Michael ums and ahs
Harry runs up and down,
flicking gravel in the garden,
grabbing dandelions,
staring, moving, repeating.
Soon he learns to blow away seeds,
puffs, then shakes the filigree heads,
sending them spinning like seconds.
Page(s) 47
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