A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

At five a man fell to the

And the watch flew off his

Like a moon struck from the

Marking a blank time that

On the tides of change beneath.

All under the olive trees.

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

He stayed faithfully in that

From his living comrade

By dividers of the

Opening wide the

Of his final loneliness.

All under the olive trees.

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

And the bones are fixed at

Under the moon's timelessness;

But another who lives

Wears within his heart

Space split open by the bullet.

All under the olive trees.edicated to Samuel Barber