The Brass Hands

As winter sets in, here is some poetic musing on the force of time and how fast it moves. Enjoy!
Tick, tock, tick, tock
That’s the sound of the old brass clock
I breathe deeper, it chimes the hour
It has no feelings, it does not cower
I sit and grip the arm of my chair
It sits across from me with a blank stare
It has no eyes, yet I feel them there
Boring into the mask that I wear
Time can see through me, forever it waits
I look into the face of my destiny, my fate
It has all the answers, but of course it won’t tell
It knows all of my secrets, knows them well
I remember the past as I stare at the dial
I want to set this clock back to when I was a child
But as I search on the old clock’s face
There’s no number for yesterday anyplace
I stare at the clock, my eyes grow wide
Because of time, my loved ones died
Bring them back, I demand of the clock
It answers my order with a simple: tick, tock
Clicking the moments of my life away
They all melt together into one shaky day
Time blows away like the desert sands
Behold the one who could stop those hands!
The thin, brass hands on the face of time
Even they look aged and worn with grime
But the clock ticks on, it cannot slow
Much like the river cannot halt its flow
I think of my youth that this clock took away
Much too fast, I’m afraid I must say
I think of my future this clock holds in store
It stares quietly, tick tock, and nothing more
Now here I am, all alone, with the clock
Whose only words of wisdom are tick, tock, tick, tock
The World, the Universe, the great depths of space
We’re just a gone second on the clock’s old face
M.B. Henry
All photos by M.B. Henry. For more, please visit my photo gallery.
This was an amazing piece that deserves to be shared. Meaning, to reblog. This was truly amazing!
Why thank you very much! You are of course welcome to reblog, I would be flattered. I’m so happy you stopped by to give it a read, and even happier you enjoyed it.
I would have if I could, but your site doesn’t show one.
I talked to my web tech and I guess WordPress doesn’t allow a reblog button when you have a custom theme and use plugins. If you’d still like to reblog you can paste a little bit of it and do a link to the website. Sorry for the hassle!
I’ll give it a shot. keep your fingers crossed. 🙂
This one brought tears to my eyes. That clock has seen me through many years. I wish you were a child again too!
Thanks! Time moves too fast for all of us doesn’t it?
So beautiful and you made me feel every word. Your words are magical yet powerful and I truly enjoyed this well written piece. Hugs xo
Thank you so much! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it. I used to write poetry all the time, it’s been fun reconnecting with it
Your passion for it was evident. Simply beautiful. 💙
M.B., your evocative/melancholy poem is beautifully written.
Thank you Dave! Winter was definitely a bit melancholy for me before I moved to L.A. 🙂 hope your 2018 is off to a marvelous start!
A great description of how time affects our life!
Dwight
Thank you!
Wonderful post – imagery very clear and chock full of truth…a great way to start the new year.
Thank you! I figured a nice poem to kick off the 2018 blog would be fun. So glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely perfect MB! Loved the cadence of it and the way you capture the ephemeral nature of time. x
Thank you!
Poetry is also nice :D
It is a nice change sometimes isnt it? 🙂 glad you enjoyed it!
This is really beautiful and poignant. The passage of time can be so hard sometimes, and you have captured that feeling well.
Thank you very much! Time takes up a lot of the space in my brain for random thoughts 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the poem!
Very nice. Time and what it can do is something everyone has in common.
Thank you! Its so true, yet each person experiences it in their own way too. Such a mystery, time. I’m so glad you stopped by and enjoyed the poem!
Hi MB, I nominated you for the Blogger Appreciation Awards. I am so glad I found your site. I truly do appreciate your writings. https://noelliesplace.com/2018/01/11/blogger-appreciation-award/
Wow!!! I can’t tell you how flattering that is! Thank you so much! It makes me very happy that you enjoy my work, stay tuned for lots more! 🙂
🙂
The pictures that you posted with this beautiful poem were awesome. I forgot to comment on that. I liked the winter scene so much. It looked like an ice kingdom for winter fairies!
Glad you like them! I was going for a “changing seasons” kind of picture theme. Both winter scenes were captured at dad’s house during a blizzard in progress. It was a cold… cold photo shoot, but got some worthy pics out of it!
This was absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing and thank you for liking my post “Martin Luther King”. I appreciate your support by reading my post. I am looking forward to reading more of your fantastic posts!
Why thank you! It’s been so nice going through and reading everyone’s heart-felt tributes to such a great man. Thank you for sharing yours as well!
He was an amazing man with passion that it seems like no one has today! I think tributes to him are amazing!
Haunting and thought-provoking. Our time on earth is very short, isn’t it? This poem helps provide perspective on our lives.
Thank you! I must admit I think about it a lot. I guess all we can do is make good use of the time we have! Glad you liked the poem!
Was high school history teacher Miami, Florida 33 years. Fav eras are post Roman Britain, Elizabethan England, Puritan Massachusetts, 1st Century Christians. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too! I’m looking forward to checking out more of your blog. Thanks for stopping by!
Wonderful words and shots.
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Very well written. Intense feeling… Loved it
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
It’s charming. I love it. Thanks for dropping by at my site.
You’re very welcome! Glad you liked the poem
Lovely poëm
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
Such an emotive poem. MB. Made me feel quite sad really.
Thank you, although I’m sorry to make you sad! 🙁
Not sad in a bad way. It just made me miss the family and friends who have disappeared from this world since my clock started ticking. Nice memories though. 😍
Oh ok, that’s alright then 🙂 I wrote this around the time when we were preparing to lose my grandpa. Guess that came through a little.
Excellent writing and photography!
Thanks very much!