sound in the clock-man’s workshop

the storm-water gutters on the house next door
are ticking contractions
like a timepiece with a stutter

………………………………………………..tick      tick      tick
tick
…………tick      tick      tick      tick

the early night is cold
the old man resident in his workshop
a place that is never silent

the closing door raises a soft clang
as the clocks lining the walls
acknowledge his presence

…………………………………………….on the hour
………………………….on the half hour
……………………………………………………on every fifteenth minute

chimes are sonorously struck
the cuckoo calls clear and raucous
above the serene harmonics
of mantle pieces

…………………………………………….carriage clocks
…………four-hundred-day twirlers
…………………………aged grandfathers

and the whir
of naked mechanisms
exposed for test and confirmation
that no moment has been lost

fifty distinct ticks in this room
individually discernible
if time is taken

…………………………to separate
……….the rhythm of each
…………………………………………….as it passes

order is drawn from an initial aural chaos
a comfort found
in the sedate movement of time
within the workshop of the clock-man

and the staccato punctuation
of metal guttering on a neighbors house

……………………………stuttering
…………in the chill
……………………………………..of early night

 

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© Frank Prem 2001