The Great Clock

The Great Clock Like the sunrise in the morn, A babe, a life is born. For a child, the Lord’s own pride The door of life has opened wide Beyond the haze, without a sound The mighty Clock of Life is wound Ticking on, into the sun Until one’s time on earth is done. The child will have to learn to live When to take and when to give He learns to fear, to hate, resent, But love will help him be content. Of work and play, a footing’s laid, Of pains and joys a man is made. A man who soon will stand alone, To show the world how he has grown. But soon the Great Clock quickens pace, And he looks upon a weary face, Shining once, but shadowed now, With sagging cheeks and wrinkled brow. And looking ‘round him he will see All has changed, not only he. Mother, brother, sister, wife, Beaten by the storms of life. Beneath the hilltop sod is laid Other loved ones, passed away. Of tender feelings once held dear All will someday disappear. For Time, like the healing sea Wishes all painful memories free. For it is better to think of things to come. Rather than of things which have come and gone. For the past is dead, all life’s ahead, And the great Clock, ticks on! Thomas J. Rauens (Written in 1968)