Sit Tight

When the old clock
That woke the dead
With its loud tick fell silent,
Eternity moved in.
A mirror looked toward the door
With eyes of a dog
Who wanted to be taken
Out for a walk.

—Charles Simic

Charles Simic, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, is the author most recently of The Lunatic (poetry) and The Life of Images (prose).