Little Black Box - NaPoWriMo Prompt - Tick Tock

This poem is being submitted for Poetry Thursday's NaPoWriMo April Daily Prompts. Today's prompt has been posted as Tick Tock.

Little Black Box

There’s a little black box that sits in the shadows

It harbours hearts in there.

One is swollen past bursting point,

The other, is in for repair.

The little black box bears a gold design

Of filigree hearts and flowers,

And a gold faced clock mounted onto the lid

That silently counts down the hours.

There's a little black box that sits in the shadows-

This box you gave to me.

You told me to care for its precious contents,

Then you slipped me a golden key.

I opened the little black box one day,

And saw the paired hearts resting there

While the swollen one beat without failure or strain,

The other lay limp with a tear.

So I laid some flowers next to the hearts,

And locked the lid tight with the key.

I wound the gold clock on top of the lid,

Knowing time would set them both free.

© Strauss

17/04/06