Time Won't Tell

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. - Thoreau

The Persistence of Memory -  Salvador Dali

drought-stricken tears rise from the charred remains of yesterday

evaporation falls as it tics and tocks, going its own drawn-out, weary way

bald, muscled girls bench press skinny boys with bouffants

people everywhere running with scissors

back and forth like pedantic pendulums

picking banjos with no fingers

chewing on curdled smoke rings

driving backwards on the not-so-freeway

looking for the asylum exit

as microorganisms mutate

everyone's a doctor with a surgical mask

wearing flip flops

cutting melons with karate chops

i pucker my lonely, licorice lips

even though there's no one to kiss

no one to miss

as i impatiently wait

dancing on an upside-down milk crate

fishing with no bait

mistaking seven for eight

cutting a rug on the edge of a falling world

clinging to a dandruffed destiny

forsaking a flaky fate

on this circled, calendar date

i scratch my herniated, hyphenated, hyena head 

wondering how many golden-hued leaves fell

without as much as a muted yell

forever holding onto its eternal secret

arm twisted in a rude forth dimension cartel

it's too bad

time won't tell

Author's Note

"In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Delmar Cooper]

I am fascinated by watches, not the glittery facades that imply wealth or taste, no the guts of the things. The hard little filling that grinds fine time into labels for us. Also inside the relentless b******s are tiny jeweled pivots that remind us of missed chances and turns that whizzed by untraveled.

[Pete]

time has a way of wearing us down. we each bear its burden differently - i guess that's why there are different kinds of watches - battery cell or wind up. time is measured the same and never changes. a second is always a second, a minute 60 secs, etc. no person or watch can measure eternity though. thank you for sharing thoughts d.c. ... :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

god, Pete, the first line could be a poem by itself...that really is striking opener for this
insightful piece full of wonderful metaphor.
the world is so different now...all of our interests are drying up...we are isolated...no hand to hold,
no full face to smile with or at...
we are all cutting that rug...and getting very flaky.....
You have such a deep way of writing about life now and then.
j.

[Pete]

thanks j. we're certainly living in trying times (pun intended). who'd have thought that life could ever be like this? we don't know when and how things will resolve. time cuts like a double edged sword ... :)

[Just Kim]

This is such a clever, cute write, I remember when I used to miss being with someone.
I enjoyed this write

[Pete]

time is a funny thing. it can really drag when we're lonely but we want it to slow down when we've got what we want so we can enjoy it longer. if only it worked that way ... :)

[Cherrie Palmer]

Awe to improve upon tomorrow by borrowing against yesterday. Sign and notarize here please.

Nothing consumes us more than tears from a dry place.

[Pete]

thanks for sharing a timeless thought cherrie. as my muse thoreau wrote a long time ago,
read morethanks for sharing a timeless thought cherrie. as my muse thoreau wrote a long time ago,

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

keep safe and well ... :)

[Cherrie Palmer]

yes, I always love to see what Thoreau, saying you will have. :)

[barleygirl]

I love how your title is a spoof on the dumb old adage "time will tell" -- so perfect for today's world when time drags us deeper & deeper into unfathomable unknowns. You have definitely come up with your most dazzling collection of tweaked phrases - plenty of abstract weirdness here, mind-boggling the way you twist predictable sentiments upside down & make it sound like you're delivering profound logic. Reading this is similar to how I feel when listening to some of the political rhetoric these days. Some people sound like they're creating noise & issuing grievances for a lack of anything substantive or convincing to say! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

yes, that old adage - what if it doesn't and things just stay twisted and get even worse - after a while we start to think that craziness is normal. too many people like to flap their jaws about nothing - i swear they're just killing time. don't get me started on the politicos, they're the worst - they could sell sand in a desert ... :)

[Chris Shaw]

What a sense of chaos I got reading these lines Pete. All while the clock is ticking away. Time stops for no man. How many though live in the present? Not many. Most live in the past or future.

[Pete]

yes indeedy - we're living in chaotic times. i like your thoughts - seems like we're not living in the present anymore. folks are pining for the past or anticipating a better future. thanks for stopping (pun intended) chris. oh, i just remembered, daylight savings time ends saturday night - clock falling back 1 hour ... :)