I Think I’m Scared of Time                                                                                                                                                                 Jonathan Mitchell

                       

When I watch the clock

My heart beat speeds up to stay in front

Of the second hand

As it turns like a record in the corner.

Too loudly to drone out.

 

If I wind up the back of the clock

Like an old toy-

Would it whip around, tumbling forward?

Wheels racing down a hill

To an endless bottom.

Will I look up to see I can’t climb back up?

 

So I avoid the clock,

Turning away from Time’s scythe

But the ticking continues

Like damp breaths on my neck.