The Clock
For Ellie Hoovs' Unofficial Wonderland Poetry Prompt Challenge Day 2
By Rachel DeemingPublished 9 months ago • 1 min read
Photo by Jason Olliff on Unsplash
I watch your face but you say nothing,
Just the same old hand signals-
No tickle from the stiff hands of Time.
You're easy to read.
*
I hear your heart beat its steady rhythm
As momentum slides over cogs.
You are alive, wound up:
But still,
A stoical philosopher of implacable expression
Like a bust of Aristotle with sightless eyes.
A custodian of time,
Steadfast in your duty
A sentinel soldier, erect and dutiful, never flinching
Documenting the drip, drip, drip of seconds slipping away.
Back and forth, the pulse of experience passes,
In empty hallways
And towers of stone:
In the places where Time dwells,
Tick. Tock.
Goes.
The clock.
*
For Ellie Hoovs' Wonderland Challenge:
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Comments (13)
Rachel this is fabulous! The pacing gives the feel of time ticking away and the imagery is superb. All wound up - same old hand signals - easy to read. Brilliant lines and I can feel the tension with the clock. well done!
Such cleverly vivid imagery of the clock. My favourite lines: “ Documenting the drip, drip, drip of seconds slipping away. Back and forth, the pulse of experience passes,”💖
Wel-wrought! Yet it must always be that what each subjective entity experiences, what it sees on the outside, cannot tell it what happens within, though some do understandably confuse the signs with their destinations!
Erect! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm so sorry, I just can't help myself. Loved your poem so much!
Oh wow. This was so good and I loved the last two lines especially - put me in mind of Auden.
I remember one Christmas Eve as a child, sitting at the kitchen table watching the clock, willing it with everything I had to move faster. It didn't. Those five minutes took forever.
Some great anthropomorphism in these lines, perfect choice in adjectives
Enchanting, Rachel! A beautiful address to such a symbolic item! This read very rhythmically too which is quite fitting!
A fantasy feel, almost drug induced I liked it
Alice in wonderlandy
Alice arriveth. This had that feel!
Wow - this is majestic, whimsical, and magically perfect. I want to hang this up on a wall with a sketch of a clock with lots of cogs...lovely work, Rachel!
I love the way you so elegantly personified a clock!! This was so cleverly done Rachel!!