Second Hand

The Watch
by Michael R. Burch

Moonlight spills
down vacant sills,
illuminates an empty bed.
 
Dreams lie in crates.
One hand creates
wan silver circles, left unread
 
by its companion -- unmoved now
by anything that lies ahead.
 
I watch the minutes
test the limits
of ornamental movement here,
 
where once another
hand would hover.
Each circuit -- incomplete. So dear,
 
so precious, so precise, the touch
of hands that wait, yet ask so much.