Spring is here – you can tell by the wind and rain. Also, time is passing – we are almost half way through the 4th month of 2023.
Consider Time
It only takes a second to make a mistake,
and a minute to compound the error.
An hour is a significant time to take,
and in a day create real terror.
Some real creativity happens every day,
and in politics a long time is a week.
A month can chase the seasons away,
and a good year on January 1st we seek.
When young a school day is so slow,
even though it lasts just a few hours.
When old, months faster than rivers flow,
and time takes away our powers.
Time like sand flows through our hands,
like running water we can touch only once.
It never returns for a second night’s stand,
but is gone forever without response.
Time is passive in one voice,
and an unstoppable action in another.
It provides the opportunity to make a choice
but is unmoved if we don’t bother.
© David L Atkinson March 2015
And on the passage of time.
Whatever
Whatever happened to
bread toasted on crackling fires
and radios connected by wires?
Or to
the bobbie on the beat
and playing in the street?
Or to
shops closed on Sundays
and Blackpool for holidays?
Or to
240 pennies in the pound
and milk roll that was round?
Or to
blue/black ink in fountain pens
and eggs collected from free range hens?
Or to
the cane in school
for playing the fool?
Or to
masters in black cloaks flitting like bats
and ladies wearing pinned Sunday hats?
Or to
ice cream delivered by boys on bikes
and children learning to ride their trikes?
Or to
new clothes bought on dividend days
and children going to church school on Sundays?
Or to
the rag and bone man with his horse and cart
and cars with handles for their engines to start?
© David L Atkinson March 2015
God Bless
Thoughts of D L Atkinson 