NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 13: Watched Pots And Rattle-Bones

Prompt: Write a poem in which the words or meaning of a familiar phrase get up-ended. 

Apparently the gods of writing have decided that the prompts for this week must be designed to make me pull my hair out in handfuls. While this may be a subtle way of helping me thin a very thick thatch of hair sans hair stylist, it doesn't do much for my peace of mind (or the floor. Hardwood floors and hair are just argh.)

And whenever I have no peace of mind? I do manic research, in the hopes that something will spark something will start a small fire in the brain. I came across the mention of rattle-bones, two pieces of bone or ivory held between the fingers of each hand and rattled in accompaniment to banjos or other instruments. 

Rattle-bones = keeping time = watches.

So this is my somewhat disgruntled take on the famous watched pots wot never boil, with a salute to the immortal Langston Hughes at the end.


WATCHED POTS AND RATTLE-BONES

A watched pot never boils.

A watched pot is full of watches bubbling
Like glass beads in boiling water.
A watched pot is surrounded by watchers watching
Watches telling time, watches strung like rattle-bones behind deadshot
Eyes, eyes, eyes watching time ticking on watch faces
Tick tick tick, little ticks and twitches of nerves
Razor-fraught by too much pressure, too many hopes, too many
Expectations, too many eyes watching too much
Time, time, time.
Timebombs.

A watched pot never boils.
It explodes.