A quaint little store, a bell
tinkles as I open the door.
The shopkeeper’s hair is
white. He has slight wrinkles
and a twinkle in his eyes.
I am looking for a clock to
buy.
There are many sizes and
shapes, one rises higher
than the rest, it looks like
a prize. Little do I know I
am in for a surprise.
Clocks in gold, wood and
brass, their friendly faces
encased in sparkling glass.
Numbers and hands
swallowing time, as each hour
and minute pass. But everywhere
I look, none could I find.
Little did I know, I needed a
clock I could wind.
As I view the faces that have
lost their voices, their hands
suddenly stop moving, they
are stuck, the numbers are
all mixed up. Bending my
ear, do they have a ticking
sound and strike on the hour?
I am saddened, these clocks
are all highly fashioned, but
lack one thing, they do not
have a tick or a ring.
Nothing!
Not one would I pick. Oh, for
a clock that would tick.
Then as I view their faces,
they begin to sway and slowly
fade away. I am afraid, they
become mirrors, reflecting
back, beginning to crack,
then turn to shadows of those
I have forgotten. Their faces
glare, I begin to run as I have
always done.
A child appears, in one of the
cracks, looking at me she
waves, then fades away.
Then a young girl appears, she
does not speak, I look her in
the eye, she glances away in
shame, I feel to blame.
And at last a woman’s face
appears, her eyes are closed
to her pain. She is voiceless.
Then I understood why the
clocks were silent. They had
become stuck at each stage
of my life. I had become silent.
Deep inside of me the child,
the girl and the woman had
vanished.
I am disappointed as I walk
away. And then I heard the
shopkeeper call, he had found
the key to the tall clock on the
wall. He winds the clock and
I hear a tick-tock.
A crystal swinging pendulum
spins and turns with momentum.
Melodies play on the hour. I
look in the face and I see all of
me replaced. I have found my
voice!
Time is not aimlessly flying
through the air, hour, minute,
and second are all in His care!
Copyright(c)2015 by Donna Nieri
Donna's Poetry Blog 