Photograph by Eleanor Bennett
A varied selection this time. Thanks to everyone who submitted. I enjoyed reading them all and I know the voters did. Once again there can only be one winner and this is Poem 6 (Untitled) by Leela Gautam – first line Locked together forever. Congratulations to Leela, entering I think for the first time in our challenge.
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Poem 1
Watch Me
Wrist watch still beats time,
scent of you, those fine brown hairs,
hidden deep pores,
your sweat times life blood.
The padlock hangs, hardened steel
gazing down on the canal below
unmoved, still swinging.
Both objects observed as you
removed earthly clothing
pushed your own naked body
down into that dirty water.
And now I am here
smelling what is left
crying small salt tears
on objects that watched your demise.
Andy Scotson
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Poem 2
Time and the lock
I watch the minutes tick away. My time,
Like it’s hanging from a steel chord,
Goes nowhere; on hold, a paradigm
Unchanged by life’s changes. A word
Etched carefully where the watch edge swings
Reminds me I once knew some other things.
I watch the hours go by and pile
On the Roman face. My hardened days
Go slowly now, unmoved by the meanwhile
Of life’s demands; no matter what it says
The watch can’t promise any more;
I’ve had the hours I’ve had. What were they for?
I watch the days go by as if I’m caught,
Trapped between the morning and the night.
This isn’t what I planned, or hoped or thought
Would happen; but now it looks as if it might.
I wish that it would stop, the watching clock;
It won’t. My time has gone; time to undo the lock.
Michael Docker
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Poem 3
Focus
Hung on the wire red leather
and steel suspend time
as the minutes lock away
his stunts, he stands proud
above the applause
his mind sees the message
engraved on the watch,
enforced by the lock ,
the command – FOCUS!
Carolyn O’Connell
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Poem 4
The Final Chapter
The proudest day for many a while.
A day to be savoured, recalled with a smile.
The end of an era, starting anew.
Relief that I made it, and gratitude too.
They gave me a watch and a good one at that.
Reward for long service and forty years stress.
For missed opportunities, ambition suppressed
And biting my tongue again no matter what.
It’s a good watch, a fine watch with real gold plate
And multiple functions: time and date.
A constant reminder of that special day;
The working life over and now time to play.
Each morning I check when it’s time to clock on
It tells me it’s lunch hour and when to drink tea.
If I nap for too long it makes me feel guilty.
And always reminds me of jobs I’ve not done.
I lost it today and I’m feeling confused.
It was something to treasure, not something to lose.
I should be distraught but I’m strangely elated;
I’m getting a feeling that I’ve long awaited.
A big change is coming, a new day is dawning
And no need for watches, there’s always the sun.
So what if I’m late getting up in the morning,
Now I’m really retired and it’s time for some fun.
Very glad that the deadline is now Monday,
much more convenient for me.
Martin John
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Poem 5
Tinker of Time
He wants to tell everyone he sees today
what he’s done but no-one wants to hear,
all of them too much in a hurry,
going about their business, slipping by him,
a man gone in the head, they assume, or the worse for drink,
what’s he got to laugh so much about?
He’s making no sense.
They’ve no need to worry anymore
can’t they see? They need to wake up.
There’s all the time in the world
now he’s put a stop to it,
padlocked it for once and all,
stuck a spanner in the whole celestial works,
brought the clockwork universe with a groan of gears to a halt.
If there’s no time anymore,
what is it we are caught inside?
So step off the ferris wheel creaking on its pivot
and know what it is to float.
Know that everything lost is flooding back,
a rushing tide littered with spent cargo
to sift through forever.
But right now only he is standing free in all of this,
in the spotlight of a timeless zone,
his joy a roaring bonfire that will not go out.
David Mark Williams
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Poem 6
Locked together forever,
Time stopped that moment,
Confirming,affirming
A love,a promise made,
To have and to hold
In light or shade,
Silver ropes , carry hopes
Of a tomorrow.
It is secure .
Only you have the key
To start the clock and open the lock.
Leela Gautam
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Poem 7
I Sent a Letter to My Love
The time is upside-down.
I set my watch at the time you—
Then I broke it; fixed it
On the cable strung across the bridge where you—
Next I took the padlock off my bike
And hung it there, as well, where you—
No! No, surely you did not, could not!
Your plan to meet my train at twelve o’clock
Was not the plan I’d thought you’d made for us that day.
Cruelly, you decided that you’d exit time;
So, now, you have eternity.
And so do I…without you. Yet, waiting
On this bridge, I’m locked up safe
Within your arms; my heart is padlocked.
Flowers I will tie here, too, with this quick note.
No! No, I’ll not forget: not now; not ever.
Oh, oh! The time is upside-down.
Lizzie Ballagher
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Please vote for your favourite poem by Saturday 6th December please, 10am
