As the Minute Clicks
Jim Culleny
A new night
(as they always are)
and cool —unlike June
in Jersey when I was green
but June anyway
anyway it comes
it’s June
it’s June
regardless of you
June then
June now
in mid-late evening
8:30 by the clock
—the night dark
almost
in the window the sky
glows grey behind
silhouettes of trees
slate-skin clouds
which if seen from a jet
would billow bright
in the light of the torch
that makes us tick
while underneath on
cloud-muffled earth what
makes us tick is a phantom
flame we imagine
we imagine it hints it’s here
right now in June
Brandenburg Concertos
from the other room
fountain water falling
nearby from a stone frog’s lips
cat darting
car passing
makes you wonder how
you’re doing as the minute
clicks