Braidicea Warriner reading her work at Waves: Climate Change Theatre Action Aotearoa

In the second installment of our creative work posts from Waves: Climate Change Theatre Action Aotearoa (#climatechangetheatreaction), we bring you ‘Melting Clocks’ by Braidicea Warriner.  This poem was Highly Commended in the Expressive Arts Club Climate Change Creative Writing Competition 2015.

Braidicea Warriner recently completed a Bachelor of Arts where she developed a passion for writing screenplays. The weirdest thing she’s ever written is a love poem from a grassy lawn to a willow tree. Some of her favourite-sounding words include; effervescent, epiphany, clandestine and cacophony.

Melting Clocks

By Braidicea Warriner

Salvador Dali’s
melting clocks are
all the more
relevant today
At my house
the tap drips
like a reminder
that this big blue
marble of dreams
is quickly dissolving
into an apocalyptic puddle
Pearls of water
slap the stainless steel
like hurried footsteps
Water weeps from the hour-hand
and time drains down the colander
in the kitchen sink
Drowning tensions
are shipwrecked
in my stomach
as I gaze at
the intricate tree
stump
outside my window
Exposed like an open artery,
it bleeds sap
seeping down its age-defining rings
Branches and twigs
lay scattered
like dismembered
body parts,
a skeleton that was once
filled with the flesh
of crimson flowers
and outspoken birdsong
The tap continues
to drip relentlessly
like a siren in my ear
it strikes the stainless steel
harder and faster
A pool of water trickles
down the edge of the bench
like the world slipping
off its surface