Elements of Time

Everything we do, it seems, is a construct of time.  Mostly we try to ignore that fact, not wanting to admit our age, or recognize the end of a pleasant day, or acknowledge the end of a phase of life. We shut off many of our senses, perhaps, to have the convenience of ignorance, or the pretense of bliss. 

But look around at how time surrounds us.  All that we observe can represent its passing, as well as its return.  Return?  Yes, time does return if we just wait.  It leaves and returns in seasons, in the movements of nature, and through the constant renewal of our physical surroundings. 

These few poems below represent simple observations of time, and how we can either ignore it, or watch it unfold, leave us, then return yet again.  Listen for timesongs as you move through your days.  Listen for the lyrics of life. 

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face of time 

second hand 

revolving. 

minute hand

advancing. 

hour hand 

in wait. 

now. 

shortly.

later. 

increments of life 

on the 

face of time.

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headstones 

petal by petal

a flower on a grave 

blows surely into 

winds of

 remembrance. 

winter brown grass 

rises green 

on lives gazing at 

headstones, 

tablets of the past, 

testaments to the 

future. 

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547

watch died at 547. 

AM? 

PM? 

no matter. 

I still turn my wrist, 

check the face, 

and act surprised 

to see an instrument of time 

with moments frozen 

as life's pulse 

beats steadily against 

dead stainless steel. 

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sunset

sunset:  

backside of a 

morning dawn 

waiting to 

tap us on the shoulder 

from behind. 

Sunset photo taken on the Berri NGL construction site in Jubail, Saudia Arabia, by R. Burnett Baker, 1976.

Headstone photo taken in Somerset, NY, March 2, 2009 by R. Burnett Baker. 

Photos and poems (c)2009 by R. Burnett Baker

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