Kinetic heart

His kinetic heart beats to its own rhythm  
keeping time on the mantelpiece  
above the filigree monkey  
that chimes like a bell at the door  
never minding that he glued the lock  
and palmed the key into the window box roses  
 
The inertia of his mind  
is like slow motion static  
inlaid with golden phrases
no one gets to hear  
genius amid the silt of madness  
 
Lanterns chained to the walls and floors
light up the dust that dances to the draughts  
as he walks the hallways a ghost in his own body  
 
Age is just a game that he’s losing  
a lifetime chess match with death  
and all the pawns have fallen with the queen  
leaving him alone with a door that chimes  
and no one that ever knocks  
the key rusting in the window box  
with the wilting roses  
 
© Indie Adams 2014