Observe the Clockwork Man
unwinding
at the end of the day,
gears, springs, trembling cogwheels
on the verge, always, of
flying apart
to ricochet around inside
his copper head.
Tick tick tick clang
go his tortured distorted thoughts
tick tick scrape
his polished eyes moving
side to side
slower now, slower
as time runs down on another
tedious clockwork day.
The same procedure as yesterday
and a million yesterdays,
so dependable
in his irregularity
you could set your timepiece
by him
and watch its hands sweep
into infinity.
(Originally appeared
in the anthology Tic Toc from Kind of a Hurricane Press)
