The Infernal Machine

It bears us one after the other

Wailing children of discontent

It waits and it suffers in silence

Patiently supplying

The thread

Our existence is knitted with.

Under its unfaltering eye

We knit

And knit

And knit

Ever afraid

Of loose stitches.

It watches and waits

Humming its music

Never getting old but continuously heavier.

Tic-tac…tic-tac…tic-tac…tic-tac…

We’d all be happier

If the infernal machine

Closed an eye on our misery…