This one I wrote right after my 40th birthday. I don't know why, but time was on my mind. What Time Is
I woke up this morning with this thought on my mind,
How is time really defined?
I scientifically recalled how microseconds increment
Until thousands of them create the second event.
And then when 5 dozen seconds gather together into a single unit,
Out pops, yet another scurrying minute!
The gathering of these minutes is the real power,
They allow us to know when we've reached the next hour.
We don't all count the hours the same way,
But after twenty-four or two sets of twelve, it is the same next day.
Seven times we wake up, pitter patter about, and then back to sleep,
Vaguely aware that here just passed yet another week.
Suddenly, so it seems, we are buried with bills and letters of 'want',
Isn't it about time for some fun we plead?... It's the end of the month!
Then after twelve of these enduring episodes we hear,
"Happy Birthday!"... to your age, go ahead... add another year.
The first 18 or so are filled with the primary things we must learn,
Not being very content, anxiously... it is the next 18 that we yearn.
The next 20 or so pass with the tribulations and fury leaving us uninspired,
Finding that it is the previous 30 we still desire.
After the meditating trance of conclusion that we should be content,
To us, a pictorial card with "Over the hill" is sent.
We reflect how we climbed that hill with all our might,
Only to find that in mid-afternoon, we say, <yawn> "Good night".
Scientifically speaking mind you, I would have to conclude,
That time can only be explained, not by seconds, minutes, or even hours, but rather entirely in review.
Nobody cares what definition of time will give,
Once they learn that it is more precious to know what time is.
Copyright (February 1998) JpD Joe Downing
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