The Mantle Clock

I found I was left a mantle clock

The type that you wind by key,

It had stood upon my father’s shelf,

Now it came down to me.

Inside the clock I had found a note

Scrawled in my father’s hand,

‘You never must overwind the clock

For time is a shifting sand.’

That’s all that it said, that tiny note

And I’d wondered what he meant,

Surely he could have talked to me

And made it more evident.

But my father had been secretive

And never would say too much,

Just that his life had raced away

And left him behind, and such.

The end of his life had come too soon,

It certainly was a shock,

I found him sat alone in his chair

And pointing up at the clock,

It wasn’t until the afternoon

I noticed the clock had stopped,

Just as his heart had ceased to beat,

There wasn’t a tick, or tock.

I took it home and I placed it up

In pride of place on the shelf,

Over the wooden mantlepiece

And wound the thing up myself.

I just didn’t know how many times

I was meant to turn the key,

So probably over wound it then,

Not knowing what was to be.

Over the following week I found

The clock had been gaining time,

And thought, that’s probably what he meant,

Never to over wind,

I tried to adjust it back a bit

To change the rate of the pawl,

But found the cog was racing away

And speeding up overall.

No matter what I did to that clock

Its speed just wouldn’t be tamed,

I’d slow it down and it speeded up,

I felt I was being gamed,

But then I woke on a Wednesday and

I thought there was something strange,

The man on the news said ‘Thursday’,

Like the days had been rearranged.

The weeks and the months went flying by,

I still kept winding that clock,

Remembering how my father died,

I wouldn’t have dared to stop.

But then one day I forgot to wind

And it slowed, and took me aback,

I held the key, was about to wind

When I had my heart attack.

Luckily Joyce was in the room

Thank god for my lovely wife,

She seized the key and she wound it up

And probably saved my life.

I never forget to wind it now

That clock’s in sync with my heart,

But now my life is racing away

With the clock still playing its part.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Tony Jordan]

It's not rare for people to have affinities and such with inanimate objects.
Growing up, a Sunday night saw me in pyjamas in front of the TV with my siblings all watching a great show of 'Tales of the Unexpected'. Dunno why that came to mind except that maybe this was a tale worthy that show and brought me back.
It would appear that clocks aren't the only 'time-pieces' - bravo DLP!

[TPK Stories]

This reminds me to make the most of what your have in your life because life passes us by and before we know it we are in our golden years...well-written DLP...

[Coyote Poetry]

A wonderful tale shared my friend. Time can be our master. You create interesting situation and a happy ending. Thank you David for sharing the outstanding poetry.
Coyote