is stuck at 9:02.
Such a brave little thing
to stand against dawn.
Hands sure,
copper fingers brushing
the tip of dusk.
The will of time a whistle-
a song it will not sing.
An arcane verse wrapped upon a gear
is the story of 9:01.
Perchance it fancied love
in a farthingale,
waiting with her parasol,
ever biding hours
counting down to 9:03.
Yet the sundial turns its nose;
The hourglass, its head;
The metronome perpetuates
and bristles at the thought.
Just a withered piece of time-
springs and pulleys
punched their timecards ages gone.
A grayed and hoary chap-
playing bridge each Sunday morning
on the porch with pendulum-
war tales be the currency of the day.
Grandpa’s clock
perhaps not stuck,
but waiting, turned to stone.
Its legend set upon a nail
standing watch for a noble key
to set it lithe on a dragon’s back
to rage through frost and fog.
To turn its heart
entwined with breath,
and a kiss to break the spell.
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dVerse Meeting the Bar prompt- Allegory
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Oh my, this is unbelievably good.
ReplyDelete"Such a brave little thing
to stand against dawn."
"An arcane verse wrapped upon a gear
is the story of 9:01."
"perhaps not stuck,
but waiting, turned to stone."
So are you the stone clock who never received that spell-breaking kiss, frozen in time?
I LOVE this allegory, princess.
Noooo, it's not about me, just a fairy tale ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe clock was the first thing I saw when I looked around my living room trying to find something to write about. I do that a lot.
Thank you, though. I'm so glad you liked it.
damn, this is good....lots of great touches through out...
DeleteIts legend set upon a nail
standing watch for a noble key
to set it lithe on a dragon’s back
to rage through frost and fog
is my fav part...love the set of the grandfather clock too, to mark the time...had one at my grandparents house ironically and used to listen to it on sunday afternoons...this has a wicked cadence to it as well...nicely done...
I didn't mean literally you---more along the lines of the "speaker" being the clock. :)
DeleteWhat a great choice for an allegorical poem and you executed it so well. I am hard-pressed to chose my favorite lines--the whole unfolds so beautifully.
ReplyDeletethink the clock waiting for someone, something to break the spell is what hit me most here..well played..and the dragon's back is a nice touch as well
ReplyDeleteIt made me think of alzheimers. How people with it get stuck in a previous time. They are with us, but not with us; almost like under a spell.
ReplyDeleteAn allegory of how time decays especially in those artifacts we build to overcome time. I like the idea that a sundial can somehow symbolize the natural time sense versus the one made by human hands. That love itself enters into the time equation seems to question its prtestations to eternal verity. As the clock freezes in time, a mounting terror appears, producing a dawning awareness of transience.
ReplyDelete