she said that only God kept track of time in our lives
marking these with a rising sun here and a wave pulled
by the moon there, at its own pace
my grandmother refused to wear a wristwatch
yet often gave me ones on various occasions
because she believed we are not keepers of time
but holders of pointers to make possible the days
my grandmother refused to wear a wristwatch but gave me
a few for the markers of my own time:
childhood birthdays, a mixture of leather and barbie plastic
teenage high school graduation a tint of silver for better years
end of college, gold to wrap around the antique wrinkles I developed
carrying textbooks that hid into the 'shouldn't'
the art of hiding is easy to manage
like disapproving glances that turn into a head-nod
like choosing to talk in a tongue older women did not
approve of because they didn't understand
that the skids in this language and that
make me more aware of the pitfalls of the lies
lifted between two cups of coffee:
one for goodbye and one for welcoming
but this is not a story or a space for these thoughts
it is a lesson in secrets of wristwatches
how we give undeserving people gifts that make
them more deserving, just to keep time
my grandmother refused to wear a wristwatch
but made sure I wore mine to know exactly when I was due
to pay her a visit.
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