AUNTY TILLY’S CLOCK
It was a funny old thing always sitting on the shelf,
Right in the middle mixed in with photos and delf,
The glass cover was broken, the fingers rather bent
And on the hour a feeble, bonging sound out it sent.

Neither my great aunt or uncle would throw it out,
It must have been old, it looked so knocked about,
Now let me tell you why this old clock was strange,
Somehow the works inside got kind of deranged.

On the half of every hour the clock was always right,
But it took forty long minutes to reach with all it’s might
The hour, then only twenty minutes to reach the half again,
So if you add the two together the loss adds up to the gain.

They did try to get it fixed, it worked right for a little while,
Then for some reason it went back to it’s own special style,
Many times I missed my bus or had to wait quite awhile,
Now I can look back, and think about the clock and smile.

(Millicent) Ann Margetson May 31, 2002