Cometh the hour
cometh the man
Time in the cross hairs
— fate to command
(Dreamsleep: October, 2025)
The teacher said, ‘Back in five minutes,’ before leaving the room
His students groaned, ‘half an hour’ meant ‘soon’
The time crawled by, the class dwindled to one
‘Still here?’ teacher asked ~ ‘Next class hasn’t begun’
Time
divorces from memory
Moments
refocused sublime
Lost
in sequential detachment
Freeing the message
—unsigned
(The New Room: June, 2023)
You watch it haste and watch it fly,
Why try espy it flashing by?
Now you see it, now you don't,
Then you heard it ~ now you won't.
First, it's here and then it's gone,
Much the same for everyone.
Like a cloud high in the air
Glance once more and it's not there.
Like a bubble drifting past,
Though you know it cannot last.
A tranquil breeze, the bubble stops ~
Attempt to touch! the bubble pops.
Where it stems from no one knows;
No one sees to where it goes.
You know it's there but you can't find...
As not a trace it leaves behind.
But man can't beat this mighty force,
To try and try he'll fail, of course;
He'll never grasp the wheres and whys
Quam tempus fugit ~ how time flies!
No time for the memories,
no time to refrain
No time for the questions,
as answers proclaim
No time for the yearnings,
regret hovers close
No time for new learning
—all time but a ghost
(Dreamsleep: December, 2015)
Our past is never
where its left,
the tide always returns
Those things unsaid
not put to bed,
like butter still unchurned
Returning once
returning twice,
its power built on fear
To undermine
those things adrift
—till anchored yesteryear
(The New Room: March, 2022)
TEMPUS FUGIT
I seemed to be going through a change,
Maybe the male menopause.
Or perhaps a mid-life crisis,
But I had fun whatever the cause.
I purchased a Harley Davidson
To roar about the place
And I rescued my flares from the wardrobe
That I’d held on to, just in case
With a cowboy shirt and a shoe-lace tie,
I reckoned I looked pretty cool.
But my wife said they weren’t back in fashion
And I simply looked an old fool
I dug out my vinyl collection,
Mostly Bill Hayley and Elvis,
And tried to relive the days of my youth
On the dance floor, rotating my pelvis.
But, last week, I fell off the Harley,
Performing a series of dares
And it caused great amusement in A & E
When the nurse had to cut off my flares.
So now it’s out of my system,
I’ve reverted to acting my age.
As I sit with my pipe and slippers,
Dressed head-to-toe in beige
Elvis has gone back in the loft
And I have to say he’s not missed.
For now, for relaxation,
I listen to Mozart and Liszt.
5th February 2022
Latin Lessons poetry contest
Sponsor - Margarita Lillico
Someday we'll all see the sky and not rebuke the rain
The sun will shine the morning dew will glimmer
But not one there to baske upon it's day
The trees will shed leaves with it's seeds as it breeds
And mountains will fuel causeways turned into Oceans
The depth of the canyons so rich and eroded
Hold secrets forever unbroken
A long lost past with no use for an ending
In the blink of an eye neither point for a story
The beautiful silence with nothing to share
And noone to receive love as a token
While in my youth
I racked my brain
to fill up Time
Taken aback
By Time’s fast pace
Once in my prime
Dismissive still
that Time ticks on
indeed clockwise
Not feeling yet
that treasured Time
so fleeting flies
Of trite excuse
« for lack of Time »
I had no fears
Time’s metronome
hounds hastily
in golden years
Wisdom whispers
that Time is up
beyond a doubt
Implacably
relentlessly
Time’s running out
My train of thought
of Time that strikes
its closing chime -
A wistful wish
that I could buy
a tick more Time
April 24, 2021
Contest: T contest Time
Sponsor: Constance La France
another day is almost done
scented bubbles - an anticipation
warm water calls her by her name:
a relaxing "mom time" accommodation
with exhalation, hands gently grasping
a book binding worn to smooth
eyes lusting for a deep escape
each written word meant to soothe
her heart covertly coveting,
for a short time, an empty abode
her favorite novel only just begun
short self-care arrangement is bestowed
time ticks its fast advancement
bathwater wrinkles, besetting
children caterwauling with woes of needs
each knock - a sound on nerves - upsetting
husband now calling through the door
she's pleading for a moments peace:
"One more page," she responds to all
hoping for the complaints to cease
Time passes through my watch,
as function follows form
Most sacred of mysteries
—the final sojourn
(Dreamsleep: January, 2021)
Does anyone else have the feeling
That life is escaping too fast
That passing of time leaves you reeling
As present reverts to the past?
A blink, and the baby is crawling
Then walking to school on his own
Too soon university's calling
And full independence is sown.
For time cannot stall in its travels
And yes, we should treasure what's gone,
But shape as each new day unravels
Fresh memories that will live on.
11.11.20
( My son turns 30 this month!)
Capsules of time…
no beginning or end
The view from without,
the view from within
Defining the space,
transporting the hours
Moment by moment
—again and again
(Haverford College: October, 2020)
Time, that old imposter, who kids you its on your side,
in your early years embrace it, with both arms open wide
for soon its perfidious nature will steal your youth away,
minute by minute, hour by hour, day by insidious day.
The signs are not apparent, the symptoms surreptitious.
Your hair falls out, you get the gout and all against your wishes.
Each day you wake you start to ache in another new place or two,
The doctor sees more of you naked than your wife ever used to do.
Days flash by then months and years at an exponential rate
stop the world, I want to get off, before its all too late.
I sat by the television today. Bored out of my mind I must say. I appreciate that I have senior status not as if it really matters. But when the television announcer place me as and old person. How time flies. I was just appreciating being a senior. Oh well tempus fugit.
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