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Clockwork
1.
It’s like a procession of fingers
plucking harp strings
or the beating of your own heart
steady, beautiful
wondering when it’s all going
to end.
2.
Are you brave enough
to tackle the big questions
or would you rather count the stars
or your heartbeats?
3.
And then you think of Galileo
with his calipers and calculations
carefully taking measurements
fingers on his pencil
inscribing arrows and circles.
4.
And Stephen Hawking
locked inside his brain
wings on his wheelchair
and that voice, oh that synthetic voice
fingers, harp strings, all motionless
only the twitching of a cheek muscle
words flashing across a computer screen
big bang words, black hole words.
5.
In the background music, Beethoven
locked into deafness
notes tumbling from the window of his mind
on to the staff
a procession of black footed tadpoles
rhythmic, fateful
as the stars, as the big questions
© Johnmichael Simon
2015
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