The Clock

The clock on the wall
is Scylla and Charybdis
one day crashing my ship
against the rock,
one day pulling me deeper
into the blackness of the whirlpool.

The clock on the wall
is a teacher
explaining the concept—
one that she barely
understands herself—
of ante and post meridiem
during daylight savings time
to a room of puzzled, staring seven-year-olds.

The clock on the wall
is a carefully coded calendar,
marked in optimistic pink
for ovulation days
and melancholy red
for another unwelcome period.

The clock on the wall
is the rooster’s third crow
and Peter’s untimely dismay,
followed by the most bitter of weeping,
the kind accompanying failure.

The clock on the wall
is a text sent
while driving with his knee,
drifting dreamily
into the wrong lane.

The clock on the wall
is three a.m.
The time of monsters.
The time of fruitless inquiry.
The time of reliving embarrassment
from years past
that no one else remembers.
The time of molehills
disguising themselves as mountains.

The clock on the wall
is an ambulance wailing
through the streets,
a dandelion held
to a child’s wishful lips,
a midnight window opening
for teenage lovers,
a Florida winter awaiting
another salty kiss from the sea.

The clock on the wall
is an addict standing coldly
outside the liquor store,
a sign held up at the airport
by damp, trembling hands,
a brand-new mother comforting her newborn
as the rest of the world dozes
under an inky black sky.

The clock on the wall
is a list of open-ended questions.
Class, how many seconds
are in a minute?
Sixty.
How many minutes
are in an hour?
Sixty.
How many hours
are in a day?
Twenty-four.
Class, here’s one for you.
What will you do
with your time?

The clock on the wall
is a shackle,
a race,
a blank check,
a tape measure,
a first kiss,
a favorite song,
a diagnosis.

The clock on the wall
is a gift,
a curse,
an everlasting reminder
of the rising and falling of the sun
and what fills in the spaces in between.

Maranda Barry is an American poet from Pensacola, Florida. With a bachelor's degree and several certifications in Elementary Education, she taught second grade before becoming a stay-at-home mom and writer. Her work has been featured in the July 2021 edition of The Write Launch.