many behaviours bound up
to obsfucate personal whims
the ones that shape other people
to trends, trips, political positions
and the peculiar constraints of time
in other time zones
on somebody else's dime
your children remind you of things
about yourself
sublimated by adult life
by pretence in how much you've got right
by mortgages and contracts
that fit tight
tighter than teenage deliberations
with existential angst
remember that?
when that was king and you'd run
inside your head through the years
through the traffic, the money
to find yourself,
find anything
to remind you you're not a child
and you have a place in things
besides
a job, a postage stamp lot,
a golden handshake
to demystify the watch
stop the time
instead of counting minutes
until you're married
you're promoted
'till your through
one day your children
mangle the threshold
you bought and sold
saying things you used to utter
on the rainy days
doing things you tried to alter
with your personal wisdom
formed by wrinkles, balls and time
your partner's humour mirrors
your children's reflective shadow
mars the shade
blocks the sun
rags the time
stealing the minutes
you've yet to wind
November 2006
