Monday, January 23, 2023

our lives on the clock

We live our lives on the clock

Eating our lunch promptly at noon

Dividing morning and afternoon

Keeping to our punctual schedule


Serving supper at five or soon after

Going out for a walk at six or so

We track the gradual shift of the seasons

Watching the sun set its own schedule


Our appetite so conditioned to clock time

Habituated to set intervals devised by humans 

Telling us when to partake of our meals 

Our hunger no longer daylight dependent


The birds take their cues from the sun

Along with everything else alive except us

Who order our lives consulting numbers 

Blinding the night sky with our bright lights 


As a child I learned to tell Roman numeral time

By reading a dial with personified attributes 

Looking at the face with its uneven hands 

Pointing to the hour and to the minutes


Growing up listening to our living room clock

Centered on the mantel over the fireplace 

Hearing the pendulum tick tock metronome 

Chiming every hour counting out the strokes 


A device so intertwined with our lives 

A metaphorical ticker beats in our chest

Even as digital droid displays take over

We remain in our same separate construct