All I hear
Is tick, tick,
No tock, just tick,
A modest sound
Despite its power
With every swing
To age me.
Oh pendulum! Oh Newton's cradle!
As you divide the time you slice,
My envy notches up.
I want to swing like you
And sing like you
And ring on every hour like you
As seasons turn
And tides roll in,
To herald every tick we do.
Oh ball and chain!
You tie me down.
Swinging from my chances
To be time free.
Oh curséd thing,
Mortality is in your swing.
And for a pair of weights!
I'd give my life for you
And wouldn't care.
And for a key to wind me up!
Not rejuvenating, no,
But joining time as time ticks by
And say tick, tick, said I.
But after several years
Of bliss, immortal
In my clock-tickness,
I'd miss being weightless,
Tied but free.
I'd want my immortality-
A life where wisdom comes with age
And thus with age comes dignity.