Another New Year

 

“Clockworks” by Jessica Rice

 

 

almost time to rewind
add new tocks to my clock
turn the key in my navel
ratchet my workings
but each turn gives hint
my mainspring
escapement
and balance wheel
will not endure
many more
tightly wound
new mechanical years

aging analog gears
obsolete
in the reign of electrons
familiar old internal ticks
sound increasingly lonely
among smooth
atomical ambient
quantums of silence
my human machine
bears no warrants
beyond its organic
quaint custom of
lifetime guarantee

I used to love time
at a time
when I thought
time was endless

 

 

From my book Onionskin