Diurnal Musings(NaPoWriMo 2016 Anthology)

#2: Clock River

Inky black hands point guns at my heart and
It obliges, beating, chasing the flow of the river
In deluge, calling out in despair to the clammy
Midnight sky that settles down in a thick cloud
Of burnt flakes of eggplant skin, depositing its
Grimy, pungent smell into my nares, sending
Ripples of warning and shock and adrenaline
Right back to my brick-coloured heart, which
Silently crumbles as the vibrations at its core
Beat against its walls, thumping, thrashing:
The inky black hands are coming!
And their fingertips like leaking taps drip
Ink, tap-tap, tap-tap, tick-tock, tick-tock,
They write words along the banks of the river--
A river carrying prey, carrying bodies of men
Who thought their beards were too richly
Strung with pearls to be the quarry of lifeless
Iced-coffee tumbling, rumbling across the valley;
The valley across which I run, the valley across
Which inky hands let their footprints carve words:
Words that sway with the rhythm of my heart's
Beating captives, captives breaking out of brick:
tap-tap, hu-rry, hast-en, tar-dy, thump-thump,
Tick-tock.