Something I didn't know until very recently, this
is an oddity, I guess, of European sundials,
is that many of them have inscriptions, always in Latin,
and always having something to do with the speed of life,
and light.
This poem is entirely composed of translations
of such inscriptions, none of the words are mine.
I mean, the translations are.
"Mox Nox" is the title, M-O-X N-O-X,
and it means "soon, night," "soon, the night."
"Mox Nox."
"Hasten slowly, the sundial said.
Day and die are cast together.
Covering, I discover, said the dial.
All things are dream.
They fly as you stand still.
You may know hours, but you do not know the hour.
Just as light is shed, the last is hidden.
Shade warns shade, the sundial said."