The clock

There was a clock I remember

A silver marking from the sun company 

You told me not to go and I was cordial to the cause

Saturday was nothing again

cards and riddles and laughter on the floor

you wound the awkward station and the music roared

the carafe of wine, and the oil of the city woke us drunk

we were children in the mirror 

by morning I was gone and the clock broke the news

You called me but how could we know 

we would not see each other again 'til I was so much older 

in only the merest handful of days

 

Reviews

[emmajoy]

I never know if we juggle time or Time is a trickster who does it for itself! Seems second by second it gulps air and self~winds when it wants. if only we could do the same, choose our moments! Hover, waiting to be chosen! Can only guess that Time is the monster in so many lives; yet, what we so often miss is what's immediate but often overlooked. Guess we have to accept that in only a glance, we can change from.. to..

Bring me my bow and time machine, sir! You've probably solving time as I pause to sip!. ' .. we were children in the mirror ~ by morning I was gone and the clock broke the news ' as it does.

[Perdition]

I imagine and see this ballerina tuning in the glass as the wine, slipping from the hand tumbles end over end. One moment a figure and the next dust. In only that glance we have a second to find our smiles and hold and cherish them...like fireflies in the grass as Mary Oliver asks "Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life". Off to gulp air, before the instant finds us all. Thank you Em~

[Robert Trakofler]

Reflections in time... or was it of time? or does time change the reflections in a bitter refraction in a sort of a liquefaction of postulation. I don't know my cracked brain tends to be strangely selective in the recollection:) I often grapple with the true meaning of time lots of folks seem to say time is really a measure of length, a distance? if that's truly the case in the amount of time it took for me to write this the earth has moved 26800 miles around the sun... meaning that I have missed a lot already:/ so very much distance so much can happen in a handful of days

[Perdition]

As Wesley said in the Princess Bride..."Truly you have a dizzying intellect"...You wouldn't happen to have six fingers on your right hand would you?..lol. Thanks BB.

[Fairy Khan]

For me, the final lines do the magic. Nicely penned.

[Perdition]

Me too..lol. Thank you so much
Fairy Khurshid Khan

[jacob erin-cilberto]

even if we don't believe the mirror, the clock keeps ticking and we get older whether we like it or not.
or as Dylan wrote, "I was so much older then, i'm younger than that now"---
all those childhood memories, mount up...and we think..."that couldn't have been that long ago, could it?"

[Perdition]

We stumble the stairs into the unknown, searching for what we leave when then comes the news and with the lights turned in we realize what we have forgotten, we find that we have lost our "muchiness" just as the raven swoops like the writing table.hahaha..Thanks J.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

This was quite wonderful to read simply because of the unusual construction like trying to solve those "riddles on the floor". A person can do a lot of growing in a few days or a single night. I enjoyed reading.

[Perdition]

well said ...you leave the porch a young man to find that the world has ended leaving you a million light years from where you came, yet somehow that day, that girl or woman keeps everything still as space and ready for the return...how is it possible haha..Thanks Fabian!

[mcceewrites]

I love the line "the oil of the city woke us drunk". I think this is very well written and makes me think of old memories and time flying by too fast. That is my interpretation, at least.

[Perdition]

What would the city be without its oil. Tin Manned I'm thinking...lol. Thanks for the read and feedback mcceewriters. Appreciate it!

[barleygirl]

I love the way your poem depicts time as being all over the place: "I was so much older in only a few days" . . . that's an epic line describing how impossible it can be to gauge time. This poem reminds me of most of my life memories, fleeting & distorted by time! Here's hoping everyone in your circle is well! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Perdition]

and in your circle as well thanks and ((Hugs)) as well Margie..keeping our safe distance of course..hahaha.