Walk Nicely

In the super market I hold a can
feeling its weight
and suddenly an hour has gone

The hands on the clock
jump and drag their feet
I talk to those hands as i might talk to a weary four year old

"Walk nicely, william."

Time is not teathered
to premeasured incriments.

I could write a memoir
about the time occupied
by a stranger's thoughtless blessing
after a sneeze

I scoff at the paper's obituaries
for I have lived and I have died
and never has my name appeared

"William, please.
walk like a big boy."