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TIME PASSES TIME

does not pass. Time all

but passes. Time usually

passes. Time passing

and gazing. Time has no

gaze. Time as

perseverance. Time as

hunger. Time in a

natural way. Time when

you were six the day a

mountain. Mountain

time. Time I don't

remember. Time for a

dog in an alley caught in

the beam of your

flashlight. Time not a

video. Time as paper

folded to look like a

mountain. Time

smeared under the eyes

of the miners as they

rattle down into the

mine. Time if you are

bankrupt. Time if you

are Prometheus. Time if

you are all the little

tubes on the roots of a

gorse plant sucking

greenish black

moistures up into new

scribbled continents.

Time it takes for the

postal clerk to apply her

lipstick at the back of

the post office before

the supervisor returns.

Time it takes for a cow

to tip over. Time in jail.

Time as overcoats in a

closet. Time for a herd

of turkeys skidding and

surprised on ice. All the

time that has soaked

into the walls here.

Time between the little

clicks. Time compared

to the wild fantastic

silence of the stars.

Time for the man at the

bus stop standing on

one leg to tie his shoe.

Time taking Night by

the hand and trotting off

down the road. Time

passes oh boy. Time got

the jump on me yes it

did.

TIME PASSES TIME

Anne Carson

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