time is a standing stone
tree aged and weathered
wisdom’s gouged wrinkles
born of element’s chisel blows
whose cost is many a dead crow
heavy like blackened feathers
time is a twice broken clock
dancing motionless here
echoing immortality’s wink
rooted mountain moment
this slow and ponderous thief
seen but not ever caught
time is a worm-
holed with cosy blindness
sliced double either way
fertilizing our earth walk
radical farmer of the soil
holding sacred space for seed
time is a dollar
dirty and crumpled waste
bleeding words of fire and water
laughing at the cracks in humanity’s
psyched up commercial stupidity
spilling soul’s soup down the drain
time is a meta-metaphor
for a world in a demonic hurry
hell bent one way échauffement
with tickets to oblivion only
time would tell if it’s mouth were
trumpets and not nine stitches
posted for MTB with Bjorn at dVerse
“echoing immortality’s wink” This jumped out at me and begged me to ponder it afresh. Three times reading through, this struck me as the kernel of your poem — for me, the reader. Another reader will find something else. It’s a great poem to hike through, Paul! Much to “see” and much to ponder.
Thanks Charley. It does act as a kind of pivot…the crux move on a hard climb perhaps 😉
Always, hopefully, the climax and not the denouement of a climb! That one particularly dicey bit that you either accomplish… or you don’t.
time would tell if it’s mouth were
trumpets and not nine stitches –
absolutely stunning – I can literally see 9 thick, black corded sutures/stitches – love the closing! Great piece – enjoyed wending my way through it and the images!
Thanks for commenting. Glad you enjoyed it.
Wow! Fantastic writing, Paul. I love time as a standing stone. That is perfect. “Spilling soul’s soup down the drain” is an amazingly apt line. Well done.
Thank You Sherry. I think it is one of my best pieces to be honest. Too late to swap for the interview?
I love how you worked with time an all it’s complexity. All aspects and together building completeness… love how you dived into the prompt.
Great prompt Bjorn. Had to work at this and really dig to create something original.
Once you get started you will find metaphors in everything
Wow!! Especially like the second stanza…and double wow to the ending. It’s true, right? We all seem to rush about, in a demonic hurry….time ticking. Can we make each tick a bit longer if we sit and contemplate one of those moments? The sky; a star; the ocean. If we sit and just listen/watch, perhaps time will at least seem to move more slowly. 🙂
Indeed…those moments when at least our perception might be that time has stopped.
I like the idea of time as a wormhole. (K)
Me too. Thanks.
I love the way you’ve riffed on time, Paul. with the standing stone and specially the twice broken clock. And I love the phrase ‘immortality’s wink’. But those final lines have given me much food for thought:
‘hell bent one way échauffement
with tickets to oblivion only
time would tell if it’s mouth were
trumpets and not nine stitches’.
Thanks Kim. When I was done writing this I thought to myself, “I have a poem there” I don’t often have that feeling. It’s a keeper I think.
I had to read this a few times to savour it. My favourite bit -this slow and ponderous thief seen but not ever caught…sometimes I wish we could slow it down.
Thank You Alison. I enjoyed putting this one together.
I like this idea about time: “time is a meta-metaphor
for a world in a demonic hurry” And it makes me wonder how a meta-metaphor should work.
Thanks Frank…perhaps a meta-metaphor works like……Time 😉
Interesting and thought-provoking progression through the stanzas. Well done, Paul.
Thanks Jilly.
Thank you for your look at this riddle
No problem.
That last line is startling, and stunning.
Also love:
“whose cost is many a dead crow
heavy like blackened feathers”
Thank You De. I’m really happy with this write.
Wow, Wow and double Wow! I especially liked the “time is a dollar” … how apropro!
That’s four wows I think. Thank You x
OMG – Paul this poem is amazing. All the metaphors for what time is – this slow and ponderous thief seen but not ever caught – excellent! Time is indeed a thief stealing our youth and dreams.
I really enjoyed writing this one and think that personally it is one of my best. Something got a hold of me whilst penning this.
I love this metaphor inside a metaphor where time is a worm and the worm is a radical farmer, which makes time a sort of shaman-farmer.
I like the idea of a shaman farmer but I cannot lay claim to it’s inception…only perhaps the inspiration for it. Thanks.
I just love “echoing immortality’s wink” like a playful dance the two are involved in. This poem is so rich that I keep coming back for more reads.
Thank You. I am delighted to hear you found richness here. I trust your sense of such things.
🙏🏽
Powerful expressions….haunting images too…!!
Thank You sreeja
I love the images depicted here. Powerful!
Thank You Vivian
“wisdom’s gouged wrinkles
born of element’s chisel blows
whose cost is many a dead crow
heavy like blackened feathers”
Oh the cost of true wisdom! This truth brought tears and sobriety. Beautiful!
Thank You Mary.
Mesmerising train of thought, unfolding from one metaphor to another kaleidoscopically. Marvellous.
Thank You kind sir