Clocking Off

More river musings, and yes this has happened at lock gates :)

See the marbled waters surging

through the sluice gates, open wide.

Feel the bows and sterns of cruisers

rising roughly side by side,

as the Keeper of the lock gates

keeps his eyes upon the clock.

Time for lunch his belly tells him,

off he goes he's clocking off.

"Man the gates yourselves", he's saying,

"lunch is lunch and I'm not staying".

Reviews

[Robert Trakofler]

sometimes I wish you would take a picture of your portraits not that your portraits aren't pictures but i would like to see some of these scenes here we have giant locks with these 20 foot doors i"m not sure what sort of contraption sluice gates are but im curious now:) love the ending made me chuckle!

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Bunny, I have never posted images, mainly because I want the words to be read and for pictures to form in the readers head :)) Pleased the ending gave you a chuckle. Happy Sunday.

Chris

[Rye]

This is so wonderful, loved the ending, I laughed at it. nicely written

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Rye, pleased the poem made you smile.
Chris

[Misterr Remeat]

Lovely work! Now I'm hungry too!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much for your review and the smile. Pleased for your visit.

Chris

[hello there]

this made me laugh! so cute, for some reason i can see myself in this situation. i like how you worded it; so simple, yet enough to make images in my head.

[Chris Shaw]

Hello there, hello there. Pleased to meet you. Thanks for your visit and your thoughts. Pleased you got a chuckle out of these lines.

Chris

[Lydia Shutter]

Smiling here....because I was stuck on a bridge in Curacao because the pontoon bridge keeper decided it was time for lunch. If I could have "manned the gates" myself, I would have! :) Very cute write. Lydi**

[Chris Shaw]

So Lydi**, you have had a similar experience and will understand a certain frustration. Fortunately we know how to deal with the lock gates. Many thanks for your review.

Chris

[Unspoken poet]

i really enjoyed your imagery in this write, very creative and nice

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you. I always try and work hard on the imagery in my poens. Glad you noticed.

Chris

[Ted Kniffen]

Oh yes, that type of service is very prevalent nowadays, maybe the old lock keeper gave lessons. The old Niagara locks are still inexistence, first canal finished in 1829, although there are newer ones to accommodate the large freighters going up the lakes. Yours is a very apt description of how they work moving boats from one level to another.

Good write, Chris.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Ted. I always enjoy how the locks work. The filling and emptying which enables boaters to continue with their journey. Appreciate your visit.

Chris

[Lea Sheryn]

I would go for lunch too. When I worked in a department store years ago, there was always trouble getting someone to cover lunch breaks. So I'm with the lock keeper.

I enjoy your poetry, Chris. It brightens my day.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Lea and for that lovely compliment. Much appreciated.

Chris

[Lea Sheryn]

You're welcome, Chris. Always a pleasure.

[gram linski]

What a great job and poem, to be a jobs worth on the great canals, clocking off at canal checking in times, lol

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks gram for your visit.

Chris