The clock stares ahead,

Staring.

Flaring, at the paintings,

Staring.

Impatient and bored he stares,

Staring.

The paintings beautiful, four,

Staring.

He grows more impatient,

Waiting.

For them to stare back.

Come on.

But they’ll never look,

Never.

For they are paintings,

Beautiful.

Still in their beauty,

Made.

And he is but a clock,

Always moving.

The Caged Man (2018) By Jared Ross


Heart racing, the caged man stands excited for his master
To free him of his burden,
Confound to solitude and desperation
The caged man stands idle in corner
Body to be left waiting until warmer.

Without voice and without cry the caged
Man tries and tries
His master’s absence causes worry in eyes
For he is a caged man,
He can not speak nor signal
He awaits his master for his mind is so simple.

The caged man is loyal and his duty is plain,
The master will be here he will wait everyday,
Until his bones break down, and his expression to frown,
Until his beating heart ceases,
Until the maggots eat him to pieces,
He’ll wait for his master,
For he is a loyal caged man.

The caged man wags his tail,
Anticipation to see a master who never showed up,
The cage is far from locked,
But the caged man remains inside,
Waiting for an absent master,
What a ******* of a master.