On the shelf there's a small plastic travel alarm clock.

In the darkness, in the quiet, late at night, I hear it ticking away the seconds

a battery driven heartbeat that punctuates the silence as the world slumbers

It could have been the engine for a robot

but that creature never inched it's way across the floor

I grew tired of making machines when no one seemed interested

but me.

On the shelf there's a small plastic travel alarm clock.

I can hear it's soft heartbeat in the darkness

as the world slumbers.