the clock

it ticks slower
and slower each
year. it's
losing minutes
on a daily basis,
an hour a month,
time seeping out
like air from
a hot balloon,
the bands and
wires, the coils
and springs have
lost their
tensile strength,
the wood is
tarnished, and
the glue that binds
the casing is
brittle from
the sunlight,
the exhale of stale
air, and when it
comes time for the
red bird to leap out,
and coo with the
new hour, it's
weak, sometimes
limp. instead of
three times, you
might get one
if your lucky. it
hasn't lost it's
desire to make
time, no, not
at all, it's just
getting older, like
all of us.