You sit on cypress boards at dusk
Taxodium roots drink deep in musk
The pocket watch hums brass and gold
Its mainspring sings what years unfold
Tick follows tock in Spanish moss
Time moves slow where water crosses
You count the beats between your thumbs
Dragonflies become the drums
Iris pseudacorus bends to wind
Yellow flags where currents thin
The watch keeps perfect swamp time flow
No battery just gears below
Magnolia drops white petals down
Where black water wears a crown
You wind the crown with calloused fingers
Red clay dust beneath still lingers
Tick follows tock in Spanish moss
Time moves slow where water crosses
You count the beats between your thumbs
Dragonflies become the drums
Night-blooming Cereus opens slow
Moonlight makes the bayou glow
The watch ticks through generations
Measuring out root relations
Taxodium stands sentinel tall
Knees rising where the waters crawl
You snap the case the humming ceases
Peace returns in broken pieces
Tick follows tock in Spanish moss
Time moves slow where water crosses
You count the beats between your thumbs
Dragonflies become the drums
Cypress ticks while you remain
