Boing, boing. Boing, boing…. Boing, boing. Boing, boing…
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…
Only three o’clock and I’m already sagging
I don’t think that I’ll be able to last to the evening
I suppose that nice Colin, or that Kenny, will be in for tea and notice
Oh, I do hope so
I don’t like running to a stop
I get so wound up when my pendulum halts and the beat goes out of my life
Well, at least I’m not one of these new smarty plastic digital jobs:
all flashing and no voice
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…’
I do so hope that that little Heather,
doesn’t come in soon.
Her and her spoiled-rotten schoolgirl ‘Whatever’s’
in the wee squeaky affected voice!
Wherever did she get that!
Well, it wasn’t from her parents!
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…’
I don’t get out much: it goes with the job
The last time that I was out of a house
was when Colin’s dad died
I was sitting on his mantle-piece going tick-bloody-tock
and watching the football
when he got up and went through the house
He came back with a cream bun and a mug of tea
It’s alright for some, I thought
Tick-bloody-tock
The game went on
And, then I noticed it
Nothing!
Nothing was happening
The tea was cold and the bun half eaten
I knew that his pendulum had stopped
and the ticking of his heart was no more
But, what could I do: nothing
They came in the morning, found him and within a week
I was whisked off to Colin’s house
He winds me up regularly saying, ‘I remember you dad!’
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…’
That Heather is worth the watching though
She comes in and before I can go boing-boing
she has me on silent and is polluting the room
with Dance music
I ask you, Dance music!
Then cool as she likes, she pretends to study
as she rummages round the web
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…’
Thank god, here’s her brother
He will sort her out
And he does
I hear the tantrum-throwing Heather running to her room
through slamming doors as the music goes off
and serious sixth year Kenny takes his seat at the Dell
Better still, he turns me on: off silent
He likes me to keep his chunking together and watches me
when I am boing-boinging away
It makes my day
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.…’
I suppose that this is really the best time of the day:
the peace before they have their tea
and the soap opera antics start
That Heather is the worst
She wants this, she wants that
And her mum is all over her
Yes dear! Later, dear!
‘Tick….tock. Tick….tock.…’
I see Colin put up with so much from the girls
Kenny helps him though from time to time
with the odd hand grenade,
when the chattering pair get too much
Then the pendulum swings momentarily to Colin
and we get a bit of peace and reason for a while
I am left to my relentless delivery as I unwind in the evening
Things are getting slower but I keep the hands moving
as I continue to show face
‘Tick………….tock. Tick……….tock.…’
I am toiling as night comes in and the sound of the television
pervades from the lounge
Then I can’t believe my luck,
Colin comes through the door and opens my glass face cover
‘Tick………..tock. Tick…………tock.…’
Colin flips out his key and before I can coil my spring
he gives all three of my mechanisms a good workout
I am now nice and tight as he swings my pendulum
to its maximum and sets me back to full fitness
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.’
He says, ‘I remember you dad!’
‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.’
‘Boing, boing. Boing, boing.…
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