Tick & Tock

On the left side of my room
A clock ticks the passing seconds

On the right side of my room
A second clock tocks the passing seconds

The left clock came first
Holding court on my highest shelf
A cherished memory for a throne

The right clock came later
Held hostage and unredeemed
A trophy of a conquest of wills

The two clocks tick and tock away the time

Sometimes they are in agreement
Marking the seconds in lockstep performance

Sometimes they wage a patient war
Marking the seconds out of step

When they agree they lose their individual voice
Becoming nothing more than clocks
That sit opposite each other
Lost in the ocean of the common

When they disagree they tear time itself in two
Dividing the second into half seconds
As they call and answer in syncopated taps
Marking not only the seconds but the liminal time between

But which clock marks the now?
And which clock marks the then?
That’s like asking
Where does the circumference start?
Where does that line begin?

It’s all a matter
Of perspective.