A Clock Without A Tick Poem by Orlando Belo

People have noticed that the tick has gone from my clock
despite having an otherwise reasonably healthy tock.
I suppose you can expect this sort of thing to happen
when the wear and tear cause the parts to slacken.

The horologist says some internal parts have had their day;
they're beyond repair and there's more on the way.
At the moment it will be able to keep reasonable time,
but it will become slower and be unable to chime.

So, there is not a lot one can do in situations like this.
However, without ticks, opportunities will be missed.
With my aging piece not working to its full potential
only time will tell if its requirement is still essential.

I am at a loss to know what else I can do or say,
except that the problem will not go away.
So I am left with a clock that has a tock with no tick
and no amount of worrying is going to fix it.