A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

At five a man fell to the ground

And the watch flew off his wrist

Like a moon struck from the earth

Marking a blank time that stares

On the tides of change beneath.

All under the olive trees.

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

He stayed faithfully in that place

From his living comrade split

By dividers of the bullet

Opening wide the distances

Of his final loneliness.

All under the olive trees.

A stopwatch and an ordnance map.

And the bones are fixed at five

Under the moon's timelessness;

But another who lives on

Wears within his heart forever

Space split open by the bullet.

All under the olive trees.

edicated to Samuel Barber