Taking my Mickey Mouse watch for a walk
I was bored today
and it was only raining lightly
so I took my wristwatch for a walk.
we've had an intermittent relationship
Mickey and I for the last ten years
but there's no respect
no consideration at all
about once every five years I replace the battery
and get Mickey's hands whirling again
aren't quartz watches dandy?
just whack it on and wear it
no winding no ticks
I headed up the main road
towards the wee bridge over Colville's tidal creek
a short walk of perhaps 200 yards
but Mickey wasn't really up to it
well he is eighty after all
his dull plastic bezel ground away quite quickly
bouncing along on the bitumen road
the 'crystal' face didn't last 50 yards
although the Billabong Velcro strap
seemed remarkably unmarked
likewise the 20 yards of tough cord
it was all attached to
by the time I stopped at the bridge for a rest
Mickey was buggered
his arms and hands had disappeared
half the strap had gone
and what little there was inside
was now outside
so with an elegant gesture
I detached the string and
cast the thing into the outgoing tide
scaring three semi-digested herrings from
the blunt end of a passing shag
hasta la vista, Mickey baby
you should have smelled a rat…
