The Grandfather Clock

I have stood in this hallway for forty-two years

reliably chiming out hour after hour

Otherwise silent, unobtrusive

In my early years 

my owners admired me greatly

They took note of my hands 

each time they passed by 

Now I blend into the decor 

Though I’m rarely noticed

I observe everything

I know my people inside and out

He the quiet one

She the more exuberant

They chit-chat about various matters

A favorite topic is the thermostat

She likes it higher in the winter, lower in the summer

He prefers the opposite

believing that to be less costly

But she doesn’t worry about that

Other days he offers recycling tips

About not putting plastic bags in the basket

Or paper plates spotted with gravy

She has no interest in these things

He is careful to sort out

the recycling and the trash

In truth, the man knows very little about the household

How to work the dishwasher or the percolator

Or what exactly goes to the dry cleaner

His main jobs are to take out the garbage and shovel the walk

He is not always successful with the garbage

She handles all the rest

The plumber, the roofers, the circuit breakers, the bank

Et cetera

The adult responsibilities 

The woman spends much of her time downstairs with me

Watching PBS or QVC

Rachel Maddow, Judge Judy

Midsomer Murders 

The man is upstairs on the computer

Playing solitaire or fiddling with unfinished poems

Sometimes he strikes me as mildly insane

They do watch Jeopardy together

Also Riverdale and Ray Donovan

At the breakfast table she reads the New York Times (more cosmopolitan)

He, the Cincinnati Enquirer (more provincial)

Then she turns on NPR and does the Jumble

He struggles with the Sudoku

As a clock, I have never had a single complaint

I lead a tranquil and satisfying life

Though I sometimes think 

the humans might enjoy

a little more oom-pah-pah