Steam Punk Watch

On my wrist sits a Steampunk Watch.

-the tiny gears, visible between two

Faces of glass,

could fall out of

Place at any moment-- one would think.

To protect the Steampunk Watch

Against a bustling world-- for

One barging shopper could bang

My wrist, loosening the rocker gear

And ceasing all movement!

And who can fix a Steampunk Watch?

A haggard waitress, running between

Tables all day, frustrated by rude or

Insensitive diners, slips on a piece of

Ice an unattended toddler tossed on

The ground while his parents discuss

The providence of Ford

Focus ownership…

The poor girl drops food on me, and a

Plate collides with my

Steampunk Watch.

I expect the face to be smashed--

The millimeter teeth to fall out of

Sync with each other.

The hidden battery to be askew.

The Steampunk Watch is unscathed

The coil has not been uncoiled,

The second hand continues to tick sending

The minute hand and the hour hand

Ever onward--not unlike the perdition bound family in their shiny new Focus…

Will it outlast my Steampunk Watch?

In California a butterfly flaps its wings.

And a clumsy girl in high heels

Trips over the cross walk in Orono, Maine.

She spills coffee on my wrist

--what a waste--

I am certain the cream will find a crevice and gunk up the gears.

--“I’m sorry,” she says as I pull my eyes away from the glass of my Steampunk Watch.

--I only manage, “Hi.”

Nervous, I check the time.

--“I’m sorry,” she says again--why does she apologize so often?--and then, “cool watch!”

“There's no problem,” I say.

“Only solutions.

--It’s my Steampunk watch, with gears that show, and glass that doesn't want to break; the gears have teeth that never slide out of place, and the band hasn’t broken… Isn’t it wonderful how things continue to function, especially when they appear to teeter on the brink of disaster?”

--I talk too much when I’m nervous--

--She says, “Hi.”