Craning in wonder at the animated clock
we anticipate the figurines 
as they circle and disappear
into the darkness of their tower,
wait for the bells chiming the quarters.
Bathed in sunlight the charming edifices
of the square bear witness to the centuries.
The tourists click and smile and gasp
look up as the dancing clock chimes just once
and the juddering figures mime their laboured folk dance.
They say that the man who made the clock
had his eyes gouged from their sockets
so he could not make another, died a blind pauper.

Hilary Thompson has a life-long concern about social justice and the exploitation of people everywhere. She is retired and lives in the Midlands. 21st-century Poetry is edited by Andy Croft, email info@smokestack-books.co.uk.