Red maple leaves settle on my spine
Acer rubrum writes in copper ink
Centuries press beneath this brick design
Roots remember what the clocks forget
Mortar memory holds the slow beat
Seasons turn where gears cannot reach
Clock hands race but brick knows peace
Time measured in root and leaf
Young apprentice rests his weary head
Pocket watch ticks against my chest
Brass heart counting what the mortar said
Steel spring winds but cannot rest
Taraxacum breaks through joint and seam
Dandelion clocks tell solar time
Patience grows in cracks of every dream
Soil sings in slow geometric rhyme
Mortar memory holds the slow beat
Seasons turn where gears cannot reach
Clock hands race but brick knows peace
Time measured in root and leaf
Frost will crystallize the mortar veins
Winter locks the clockwork in its grip
But spring returns on sugar maple trains
Acer saccharum feeds the waking sip
Boots rise dusting copper from coat sleeve
Gear oil stains where lichen used to grow
Master's voice calls through the falling leaves
Brick keeps time with roots deep down below
Mortar memory holds the slow beat
Seasons turn where gears cannot reach
Clock hands race but brick knows peace
Time measured in root and leaf
Mortar memory outlasts the gear
Root and brick hold time year to year
Acer rubrum drops its final crown
Sidewalk keeps the slow time underground
