No Tick Tock

I have several clocks

And I checked each one

I noticeably discovered

The “tock” was gone.

 

I listened closely

And the sound I heard

Was “tick, tick, tick”!

I thought that absurd.

 

I could well remember

While I was at school

The clock went tick-tock

I was certainly fooled.

 

Just like the mouse

That ran up the clock

Perhaps when he left

He carried the “tock”.

 

The battery must be dying

I thought to myself

So I installed a new one

To improve my clock’s health.

 

I tried it with one clock

I could not replace all

Since that would be costly

And my income is small.

 

Again I listened

This time more intently,

There was no “tock”

I noticed distinctly.

Was there ever a “tock”?

I suppose there was not

So from where did it come?

I mean this “tick-tock”.

 

Don’t just believe me

Check it for yourself,

Start with the clock

Right there on your shelf.

 

If you hear a “tock”

I will buy it from you

But please be reminded

I must hear it too.

 

 

There is no “tick-tock”

As I have just shared

And to tell your kids so

Would not be fair.

 

So please tell your kids

Don’t let them be fooled

The clock goes “tick, tick”

Even at school.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2018