Executioner happy to explain <br />How his wristwatch works <br />As he shadows me on the street. <br />I call him that because he is grim and officious <br />And wears black. <br /> <br />The clock on the church tower <br />Had stopped at five to eleven. <br />The morning newspapers had no date. <br />The gray building on the corner <br />Could've been a state pen, <br /> <br />And then he showed up with his watch, <br />Whose Gothic numerals <br />And the absence of hands <br />He wanted me to understand <br />Right then and there.<br /><br />Charles Simic<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-school-of-metaphysics/
