~ an ode to my watch~
mortality dims and sparkles like a distant star
and i see the beauty of life
you chart with your digits and hands.
i see how you welcome seasons – your farewells sweeter,
you herald a new beginning with the slightest movement.
i hear you tick-tock
through classes that shame eternity
and relief rages through –
your promise that the world hasn’t stood still,
that life goes on.
you count seconds and heartbeats,
the time of strangers and buses alike –
in your infallibility do i seek comfort;
on days where words and seasons are disillusioned.
a starry encounter, a life
chronicled in moon phases and seasons,
your hymns of grandeur and constancy
provide lasting warmth that beckons
life that isn’t black or white.
you shoulder the world’s fate –
fears and promises, processes and fulfilments,
tied to my bony wrist;
the bearer of time – seconds, hours and minutes,
time that doesn’t lie or show mercy.
in a world of changes and unpredictability,
you hold the key to the perfect balance,
a constant whose past, present and future
remain unseen and unchanged.
my dear starry watch,
i loved you when i first saw you
and i love you still –
may time never fail us both.
*my watch has a space-themed dial. it’s got a little slit decorated with stars and a tiny silver disk that shows the moon phase, hence the star and moon references.
“Time is the longest distance between two places.”
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
Thoughtfully yours,
D
This was written in response to this week’s W3; Wea’ve Written Weekly poetry prompt hosted by David @ The Skeptic’s Kaddish. This week’s prompt guidelines given by Selma are:
The iconic Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973) would have turned 119 this summer. Neruda was known for his historical epics, political manifestos, and love poems. Neruda’s incisive and joyful odes were often dedicated to ordinary objects making them approachable yet surreal.
Click HERE to read “Ode to My Socks,” translated from Spanish by Robert Bly, in which Neruda describes his covered feet as “two fish made / of wool, / two long sharks / sea-blue.”
- Inspired by Neruda’s electric, surreal images, write a joyful ode to an ordinary object in your life. It doesn’t matter what it is, think kindly about how to honor and describe this praiseworthy item of yours.
- This particular poem of Neruda’s consists of 215 words, so try to bring yours close to the word count. Not exactly– close; but not too short. AND Joyful, remember!
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