Loss

Jane Stuart

A pocket watch: a past concealed;

Its features, closely studied, yield

A history from each commonplace,

Well-worn and battered mark and trace.

A brother’s grief and loss revealed.

No fifty guinea watch can shield

The truth and nothing can replace

The words unsaid and wounds unhealed.

A pocket watch.

The power which drink and debt can wield

Ensured his brother’s fate was sealed.

Four numbers, scratched inside the case,

Count down a tragic fall from grace.

Memento from a battlefield;

A pocket watch.