Poems February 2017

Relativity

He took the watch apart. The snowflake gears,
Too delicate for hands his size, bend and
Entangle on the table. If only the metal
Would melt then maybe so would time.

The leather band has faded to a pale urine.
The watch had been his father’s,
Worn at the Bulge. The gears malfunctioned
When he hurled the watch to slow

Time down—it only stopped. There are just
So many revolutions. Telomeres clip
And age us, but death is not a rabbit
Pulled from your coat on a crowded subway.

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Jason Gray is the author of Photographing Eden (Ohio University Press).

Topics: Poetry

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Relativity by Jason Gray

New to The New Criterion?

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Relativity by Jason Gray

Subscribe for one year to receive ten print issues, and gain immediate access to our online archive spanning more than four decades of art and cultural criticism.
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