‘It’s a simple watch,’

The watch whispers with its fantastic silver coating,

And blue inlay which I can not ignore and so I plead for its case.

‘She wants it,’

My mother relents but she is worried, worried,

What he would say. I don’t care,

I have a watch and it is elegant and beautiful.

‘It’s not a waste of money!’

But father is not pleased,

And my mother cowers with the watch in her hand,

Pleading first, shouting next, and then fighting, running, running down

‘Get away!’

From a monster, doors slamming, heavy, fat steps chasing

My mother’s lighter ones until she’s grabbed like an animal and suddenly she’s screaming

Like death is on her, the bathroom door slams, my father beats it so hard the piano whines,

Trembles with me shaking underneath and my mom weeping for the

First time I’ve ever heard...

I stopped wearing the watch before the year was over,

It pinched whenever I put it on, and I always put it on upside-

Down, an elastic, tacky watch with a fantastic silver coating.

I disliked it. The watch lay forgotten for years,

And one day, when I needed to keep time and thought of the watch and looked,

And looked for this watch I never wore, and I couldn’t find it,

I cried.