i bought a watch

men buy watches, yes?

that's what we do to accessorize--
brown leather & the metal
buckle-- i wear mine
with two notches left--

it's almost too tight
but i think it's the sort
of thing you just have
to get used to--

my father never wore
a watch & it makes me
wonder how
he knew what time it
was when we would go to
bowers park--

after it rained the creek
would overflow & make mucky
the forest floor--

tadpole eggs stared up
at us-- 

handfuls of irises--
embryos blinking--

i had blue waterproof 
sandals-- the type with
velcro & dad wore his
grass stained new balance

we left when the sun
got orange enough 
to be a clementine--

were our bodies
sundials? 

our shadows the hands
of some master clock
like the white headed 
tower looming over kutztown
chiming fickle-ly on the hour 
& sometimes the half--

the clock in the dashboard
of the jeep rebelled against
time for as long as i can remember

a gold pocket watch 
in the glove box occasionally
tethered us to
the rest of the world--

i don't think he ever checked it--

he taught me how to skip
stones-- 

each rock smooth & cool

ticking as they dropped 
beneath the surface--

that's what i've noticed
most about wearing a watch

i don't always hear it
but driving home yesterday 
at a stop light i became
aware of it--

finger nails drumming
car windows--

teeth chewing themselves--

the noise coming in & out
of focus-- my wrist
made ferris wheel--

there we sit in the grand stands
at fair in august
waiting for fireworks--

paper wrist bands 
as handcuffs--

my dad asked someone near by
for the time

9:27pm

they would start
any minute now--

i practice checking
my wrist-- it's performative--

i'm saying 
look-- i have watch now--
does that make me a man?

do the watches all
speak to each other then?

leaving some clocks
behind-- is your body 
a few minutes fast?

a language of clicking tongues 
Morris Code of Morris Code--

do they tell stories of
us then?

about a girl-boy
in at a stop light
trying to understand 
their language

a boy in a bathroom mirror 
practicing how to check
his watch--

i smirk at the thought
of my father wearing one

he washes his hands too much
of paint--

what kind of man wears a watch?

not just any watch but
a brown watch with a 
bold dazed face from the 
clearance section at target

my cheek bones 
have minute hands--

each eye-lid ticking--

do you speak time?

where do you keep
your sundials?

the creek at Bowers floods 
in april

& the frogs will 
tell stories of us--

their children observing us

blinking as sun peels
itself citrus