Measured Moments

Moments measured

in tolled hours

          and half-pasts

 

Revealing the dignity

of old-world hands

 

Silent now,

still...

reminding me

of the time

Author's Note

I have an old mantle clock that was made by my great-uncle which sat in my grandmother's hall for decades. It no longer keeps time... but it holds it just the same.

Reviews

[ANTO]

I bet you can still hear the tick-tock when you focus on the clock Rita - each tick and tock a step back in time - This is masterful.

Thanks for sharing.
:)

[Rita L. Sev]

I remember it's distinctive "bong" to announce the hours well... Thank you, my friend!

[ANTO]

Aw thats amazing. :))

[Lizardo]

I like the opening line and the poem is really good, we do have at some point to measur our time.
Wonderful poem

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you, Lizardo - this was one of my more somber moments...

[Nikolas]

I like this poem. I have a bit of an obsession with clocks and time, and it made me think of how I keep clocks even when they stop working. I especially like how "still" in the 7th line can refer to both motion and time. I like how you moved the 3rd line over referring to "half pasts". The poem is short and succinct, and well written.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you so much, Nikolas! I am a fan of words that can have more than one meaning in a poem. I also have a watch from my other grandmother that stopped working years ago - I just can't bring myself to discard it...

[Pete Langley]

In some ways, old clocks say more stopped than they do when they are counting time - they hold every second instead of just the next. I love the spareness of your piece, Rita....and how it speaks volumes. P.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you, Pete. I feel this way about hand-crafted objects, too - they tell so much more than meets the eye... Good to see you again.

[MomzillaNC]

I love the way you ended with this suspended moment, like an event suspended forever in the perfection of our rose-tinted memories

[Rita L. Sev]

Rose-tinted memories... as so much of my childhood is... yes, this clock keeps them safe. Thank you, Momzilla!

[MomzillaNC]

You're welcome. Don't you find the past looks better when we look back on our memories "through rose tinted glasses," as my longtime novelist friend is fond of saying.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

There are things that have sentimental value to us no matter what shape it is in. Those are more valuable then gold.

[Rita L. Sev]

I would never get rid of this clock, that's for sure... Thanks, Dale :)

[Troy Henson]

I love old clocks Rita...they posses and share so much character even in silence.

Troy

[Rita L. Sev]

Indeed they do... Thanks so much, Troy!

[NeiL ArandA]

They do holds valuable time due to their sentimental value and a time piece of the past.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you, Neil!

[Pryde Foltz]

in tolled hours
and half-pasts

Revealing the dignity
of old-world hands

There is something splendid about the sound of an old clock and something magical about the stillness in between clicks. Most lovely write.

[Rita L. Sev]

Ah, the stillness... Thank you, Pryde!

[Marie]

And it's right twice a day, isn't it? A clock that no longer tells time is perhaps reminding us that it really isn't so important after all.

[Rita L. Sev]

Absolutely correct, Marie! Thank you!