At the Horologists¹
[Canterbury Road, Canterbury &
Malvern Road, Malvern]
1
At both the rule seems:
for older bigger clocks
bigger bucks.
The cases for grandfather clocks,
some with glass in front, seem
suddenly coffins: in some
the late metal persons still stand,
bare shanks shining;
yet that pendulous donger
there¹s doggèd life tick-tocking;
above on the time-worn
face, febrile hands
fidget at tattooed roman
numerals; others await
the kindly resurrectionist;
he¹s out the back whistling,
fixing bones and body parts,
coaxing ticking in old hearts.
2
The granddaddy of them all,
made an age ago in Scotland,
has branded on its forehead
Robert Burns, rosy still,
a young father Time
still in his prime.
Knowing what made him tick
for the sake of his ticker,
could I put him on tick?
3
Twenty, thirty tick-tocking trickles
blend into a high-running river,
the present constantly going under.
6.30pm, Wednesday 16 March 2005
Max Richards at ŒCooee¹, North Balwyn
near Canterbury & Malvern (Melbourne)
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