OMEGA

All day long my watch has been stopping

On me, every few hours, a good Omega

Automatic chronometer, certified,

Gold face and bezel, circa 1970,

Self-winding. My father left it to me

When he died, and never has the watch

Given me a minute’s trouble. Maybe

Today I’m too still to keep it wound,

And it’s much later than I thought;

Lost hours are shimmering into twilight.

I shake the timepiece, it awakens. I set

The hands that promise to keep moving,

Listen to be sure that we’re still ticking.