DRESDEN CLOCK

on the mantlepiece counting down the minutes
before another death
ticking on her face of denial
entrapped within her antiqued mind
unable to turn a blind eye
or replace the chains drummed up inside
while the seonds tick away
she grinds away in deadly charm
remembering the momentous death
of the aloof spinster
and the detached life she lived
while watching the handsome dogs
eat the dead parrot
in silence
the ticking stops


......this in response to AUNT HELEN by TS Eliot...and the line ... the Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantlepiece