Time Etymology

Assignment to write a poem incorporating the etymology of a word

The tarnished watch on your wrist

was never more than gears, and

hours are numerical distortions

diverting daylight from your reality.

The clock’s second hand tick is nothing but

distraction from your metronome heart,

so listen close to the pulse of your aorta, 

time was never made to measure a lifespan.

 

Time is the tempus of Old English tides,

each crashing wave a modern day minute.

Time is the tempo rubato of Italian sonata,

the stolen measures of your sweet symphony.

Time is kairos, Ancient Greek for the opportune moment,

the rise and fall of your own empire.

Time is the world’s natural forces, merging

into one steady thump inside your chest.