The Clock

I watch your face but you say nothing,

Just the same old hand signals-

No tickle from the stiff hands of Time.

You're easy to read.

*

I hear your heart beat its steady rhythm

As momentum slides over cogs.

You are alive, wound up:

But still,

A stoical philosopher of implacable expression

Like a bust of Aristotle with sightless eyes.

A custodian of time,

Steadfast in your duty

A sentinel soldier, erect and dutiful, never flinching

Documenting the drip, drip, drip of seconds slipping away.

Back and forth, the pulse of experience passes,

In empty hallways

And towers of stone:

In the places where Time dwells,

Tick. Tock.

Goes.

The clock.

*

For Ellie Hoovs' Wonderland Challenge: