In Tempo by Anne Selden [Annab]

In Tempo

The clock by my bed
has a steady snap,
a cluck-
each second stroked
with sound,
like lashes in a blink.
It's measure meets me,
a metronome
for a bird outside
whose notes sweep
round and round.
Occasionally identical-
bird and clock and pulse
peep once in unison
then flit away
flirting
like lashes in a blink.

1988 Poetic Voices of America; Sparrowgrass Forum 10$ prize