How do we measure time?
By the revolution
Of a rock shooting
Through a black eternity
Pulled by a burning ball of gas.
And one more candle on a cake.
By the ebb and flow
Of white water on a beach
Hauling the oceans
Dragged by an ever changing moon.
And a new picture on the calendar.
By the mass migration from home
To work and school, and back again
Until the sound of football crowds and
Church bells place a full stop.
And another roast lunch on the table.
By a long shadow moving
Round the house and garden
Sun-blinding the windows
From dark to bright to dark.
And the shipping forecast to "Sailing By".
By the lazy sweep of a large hand
Edging too slow to notice
Round a giant Roman face
Until the chimes ring out.
And the radio updates the news.
And finally
By the swing of a pendulum
The click of a tiny cog driven by a tiny spring
A hangman's drop
By the revolution
Of a rock shooting
Through a black eternity
Pulled by a burning ball of gas.
And one more candle on a cake.
By the ebb and flow
Of white water on a beach
Hauling the oceans
Dragged by an ever changing moon.
And a new picture on the calendar.
By the mass migration from home
To work and school, and back again
Until the sound of football crowds and
Church bells place a full stop.
And another roast lunch on the table.
By a long shadow moving
Round the house and garden
Sun-blinding the windows
From dark to bright to dark.
And the shipping forecast to "Sailing By".
By the lazy sweep of a large hand
Edging too slow to notice
Round a giant Roman face
Until the chimes ring out.
And the radio updates the news.
And finally
By the swing of a pendulum
The click of a tiny cog driven by a tiny spring
A hangman's drop
A lover's final breath
