“It's funny, don't you think, how time seems to do a lot of things? It
flies, it tells, and worst of all, it runs out.” – Markus Zusak
the unreliability of men and their machines
pressure readings skewed by barometrics of the heart
vagaries of temperature breeze or elevation
victims of inertia varying degrees of rust
the way that dogs will simper and whine whenever they're afraid
at fireworks or sirens in the middle of the night
silent flare of sunspots rounded fullness of the moon
shelter of rainclouds built up fast in humid midday heat
tall as Tut's sarcophagus smoothly deco curved
the shining ivory weighscale stood back hidden in the corner
out of sync with screaming effects in the rest of the arcade
shining brass plate still inscribed with careful curling letters
*gebildet in Kairo / made in Cairo*
I drop the copper penny into the slot wait for some response from
the tired old machine deliberations moving gears somewhere deep within
heavy and slow as glaciers in the mountains
calibrated finite lines etched in intersections
show my weight in kilograms pounds and even stone
I prefer the clever sound of ten stone eleven
to the more discouraging thud of a hundred fifty-one
despite beguiling arguments proposing the inverse
life is not the on-line game it sometimes seems to be
cursor's blink the only rhythm natural to the day
artificial heartbeat so misleadingly dull
I fret at sinister dangers the possibility of faucets reversed
installed by left-handed plumbers who were badgered into rushing
am anxious I might scald myself while fiddling half in sleep
fumbling in the sink at night to fill my hand with water
every bit as I awkwardly I stumble through the days
tottering in triple time to some archaic saraband
listening to tunes that have long gone out of key
remembering stories of airplanes that have fallen from the sky
they say that time will tell that change is the only sure thing
all a case of entropy the rise of litmus blue
even the automatic coffee machines
refused my coins this morning
I contemplate the ever-decreasing tension of springs
retain my faith in maybe only levers wedges wheels
question why aluminum repels the magnet's hold
wonder if even that fact will always be true
