Catching Up in Strange Times

When I called this morning, 
my father told me that just before 
going to bed, he’d replaced 

the cell in an old alarm clock 
because he noticed it had stopped 
at 4pm sharp. He didn’t have 

the strength to set it right, 
but all night long he said
he heard it spinning,

and in the morning
when he woke, it had just 
about caught up. I don’t 

know what it means, he said, 
but these are such strange times,
I knew you would understand.