Ticking Tocker

I’m ticked off
With my tocker –
Seems the ticking
And the tocking
Ain’t behaving
As they should.
The tick takes the mick
And the tocking?
Well it’s just mocking,
With it’s subnormal
Ejections and infarctions
(Or whatever they call
Those reflex reactions).
Seems that the string
Section sees my baton
Flapping in fortissimo
But the percussionist
Plays the timpani like
His heart isn’t quite in it
(No pun intended, or is it?).
So my ticking tocker’s
Ticking is working, twitching,
But my ticking tocker’s
Tocker is lacking, flopping,
And the tachycardial flapping
Of my tick-tocking valves
Is flopping when it should
Be flapping, and flitting when
It should be flatting
(or is that flat-lining?).
My pacemaker is no
Peacemaker, and anxiety
Won’t help, but wired as
I am to this other ticking
Tocker it would help
If they could find each
Other’s time zone and
Synchronise their beats,
So that my tocker hears
My ticker and responds
With full aplomb, and
The valves do more
Dilating and ejecting
From day one.
Mortal flesh is so
Temperamental with
Its built-in obsolescence
And its best before date
Is behind it, gone,
Yet I know that I am
More than my ticking
Tocker, and my life is
Conducted by a different
Rhythm – more a waltz
Than a two-step –
So when this old ticker
Stops ticking and the
Final tock gives out
I’ll still be here, dancing,
With the new heart
HE gave me long ago
Which doesn’t so much
Tick-tock, but sings
A hymn of life itself,
And if you listen carefully
You’ll hear the song,
“Be still and know
That I AM GOD”
“I have loved you with
An everlasting love”
“Your flesh and your heart
May fail, but I AM the
Strength of your heart
And your portion forever.”

For Allyn, my friend and brother.