THERE WAS A TIME

There was a time when there was time –

 

time was everywhere – escorting falling leaves,

polishing puddles so we could jump back in.

 

We’d romp back home with buckets of

moments in our rainboots, moments

stretched across our faces, moments

seized by Daisy’s wagging tongue and tail.

 

Time jammed our bloated clocks - see, every

second contained sixty

minutes so thick the sun had to plow

through the day like an icebreaker –

 

so much time was crammed

in the S’s and R’s and double-O’s

of mama’s bedtime stories seasoned

with Daisy’s bedside wheezing

 

and the small hours of the night were fat and full of stars.

 

In the dawning snow I unburied a thirteenth year.

Then the vet said it’s time

and mama told Daisy good night

with a very thin double-O

and all the clocks in our

lives started ticking.