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Cornell worked on several pieces at one time, and could take years to complete a work. He began a series of collages with clocks after his brother's death in February 1965, but noted on the back of this collage that he did not finish it until November 1967, after two years of work.

The clock pieces reference Robert's death in particular and the theme of mortality in general. Clocks, marking the passage of time, symbolize the fleeting nature of life, while birds are symbolic of the soul's ability to transcend earthly bounds. Cornell evoked the idea of the soul's passage by placing the bird just outside the image of the clock, where it shares a space occupied by the constellation Cassiopeia. Robert, crippled by cerebral palsy, enjoyed looking at birds from his window, so Cornell's inclusion of a bird may be a more direct reference to him.