That All Things Seek an Ending

Art by Lauren Farkas

He says, “Clock,”
a little clot of sound,
a hammer blow on something hollow and distant.

From the window, he sees
lovers kiss at the bus stop
before they will rise

to fray in the cross-shear of blue wind.
It has nothing to do with him.
It has nothing to do with him.

James Owens's most recent book is Family Portrait with Scythe, due out in spring, 2020, from Bottom Dog Press. Originally from Virginia, he earned an MFA at the University of Alabama and now lives in a small town in northern Ontario, where the winters are long enough to make the short summers precious.