“the clocks we lock” by Dennis Cooley
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “the clocks we lock” by Dennis Cooley. Due to its formatting, this poem is only available as an image.
the clocks we lock
By Dennis Cooley
![and choke in
the bones click and lock
in the pins time stumbles
inside the stomach
the voices knock
the horses talk
pockplock over the morning
where it shines the tobacco breath darkens
the ribs way up the stairway
the room booms and bangs
the door slams shut the stove
rattles the kitchen
the room breathes hard
grampa's cough passes
through the oil-slow darkness
grampa's fingerbones are
the knuckles on caraganas
the bones cast their chalk
against the wall onto the floor
all night long they
shake into the hallway
the shadows hang onto the wall
the air strains with listening](https://poets.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/07.-Cooley-Aug-12-2024-web.png)
Copyright © Dennis Cooley
First appeared in Poetry Pause on November 17, 2020.
Dennis Cooley grew up in Saskatchewan. Active as poet, editor, publisher, teacher in Winnipeg for many years. Three new titles in 2020: the muse sings, coldpress moon, the bestiary. A collaborative book, the gibbous moon, forthcoming. A new manuscript, body works, in submission.
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