The Clock That Stole Tomorrow

The Clock That Stole Tomorrow

He built a clock that showed the future,
With numbers glowing bright,
It didn’t show the hours past,
It showed tomorrow night.

At first he thought it useless,
A clever little toy,
Until it showed him something strange,
That filled his heart with joy.

Tomorrow’s clock showed sunshine,
Then laughter filled the screen,
It showed a little birthday cake,
And places he had never been.

He watched it every morning,
To see what would appear,
But slowly he began to notice,
Tomorrow disappeared.

One day the clock showed nothing,
No numbers could be seen,
The inventor pressed the buttons,
But the screen remained serene.

Then suddenly it started ticking,
Much louder than before,
The hands moved backwards rapidly,
Then stopped beside the door.

A message flashed across the glass,
In letters cold and small,
“Tomorrow isn’t yours to keep,
You cannot steal it all.”

He switched the strange machine off,
And left it in the dark,
But every midnight afterwards,
It gave one tiny spark.

Perhaps the clock still knows tomorrow,
Perhaps it always will,
And somewhere in its silent face,
The future waits there still.