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Monday 16 December 2019

Poetry Monday: Time

It's Poetry Monday, and this week's topic is . . . . TIME.

Join Diane, MotherOwl, Mimi, Merry Mae, and me as we pass the time writing about time.

You can leave your poem in the comments here or post on your own blog; if you do the latter, please leave a comment here as well so we know where to find you.

Use the topic, or choose another -- the idea is to enjoy the process and work our brains.

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Ironically, time was not on my side this week and I am typing this very late on Sunday evening for midnight posting.

So let me just give you a video of Steve Miller's song about time, Fly Like An Eagle, which has been going through my head all week whenever I thought about what I should write:




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And now that you've gotten that good and solidly into your head as an earworm, I present my poem, which cannot compare with those lyrics at all, at all, at all:


Time  -- Donkey Version 

Time is like a rubber band:
At times it shrinks; at times, expands.
When in a dentist's chair I sit,
Time drags slowly, bit by bit.
When on vacation, though -- time flies,
Especially under sunny skies.
Waiting makes time elongate,
But time is short when I am late.
Why does it stretch when I am sad?
And then condense when I am glad?
It's odd that time -- though so reliable --
Can also be so bleepin' pliable . . .




This could be my theme song, kitteh . . .

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Until next week, please have yourself a good time :)

Next Poetry Monday's topic will be . . . . THIS TIME OF YEAR . . .

Thanks, Diane, and good luck everybody!





47 comments:

Red said...

How true!

Elephant's Child said...

kitteh is singing my song too.
And yes, time is indeed an elastic trickster.
Love your poem. And wince thinking of the years I have spent in dentist's chairs.

River said...

I agree with those kitties 100%
I'll be in the dentists chair myself tomorrow and when I finally get out, I will be surprised, as always, at how little time I was actually in there.

Janie Junebug said...

How right you are with your poem, dear little donkey. And isn't it amazing how time speeds up as we get older?

Love,
Janie

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

Time is a rubber band so true and well written :)

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Your poem was right in every way, Jenny. I am running out of time in most things but never give up on that miracle that will save me. It has happened before and am counting on it again this year also. Holidays are hard on women.

nothoughtsnoprayersnonothing said...

A perfect description of TIME!!

Never mind the snooty scientific view. lol

"A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future. An interval separating two points of this quantity; a duration."

So bleepin' stupid!!

Marie Smith said...

Love this poem. Well done! There isn’t enough time this week! So true!

jenny_o said...

It's weird, isn't it?!

jenny_o said...

Ah, dentists - the suffering they inflict to relieve our suffering!

jenny_o said...

I know - and don't you love that wonderful feeling when it's over!

jenny_o said...

It truly is. Time's whizzing by far too fast now.

jenny_o said...

It doesn't seem fair how it works, does it? ha ha

jenny_o said...

I've given up on miracles and just lowered my standards, Arleen! lol

jenny_o said...

Those scientists! I wonder how they feel about time when they're in the dentist chair - hah!

jenny_o said...

We're down to the wire now, Marie! Holiday prep really warps time perception :)

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

This. Is. Awesome! One of your best, Jenny! And so, so true!

LL Cool Joe said...

When I used to take my mother to the hospital, sitting waiting to be seen by a doctor for a hours felt like a lifetime. I love the NHS but. .. I'd arrive clean shaven and come out with a beard.

dinthebeast said...

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Time really does fly with an approaching deadline, and everything you do in the service of meeting the deadline is suspect: Is this really the best use of my scarce and diminishing resource that is the time left before the deadline? And that, of course, plays hell with your confidence and slows you down...
I'm typing this from our downstairs room at Zsuzs' house, which has good wifi but no cell reception, so the most dire of our deadlines are safely behind us, though in no sense finished demanding our time and attention.
Now we have another deadline, less dire, but with its own challenges: the car registration is due Friday, and the car has to be smogged which will include installing a new muffler, as the old one fell off in the Home Depot parking lot in Emeryville on our way here. And we aren't familiar with the businesses required to accomplish those things around here. But still, not nearly as stressful of a deadline as the one that got us here.
Yesterday was my birthday, and to celebrate, Zsuzs took us to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was really good and gave me a free dessert for my birthday.
Our room is small, but much nicer than we were imagining, and Zsuzs got us a propane heater, as it is really cold, with snow on the ground and ice on everything.
And we are planning to be here for some time, so we will get to work on making the accommodations better fit our needs.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

messymimi said...

You have captured the aggravation of time perfectly!

Anonymous said...

Pliable time. I like that.

jenny_o said...

We were thinking very much alike this week, Diane :)

jenny_o said...

It's the same here - the usual minimum wait is five hours to see a doctor. A lot can happen :)

Yorkshire Pudding said...

TIME

Of variable character.

Sometimes
Like a metronome on “Lento”
Watching static clouds
Drifting
Every moment paused
Galoshes in mud
As the river slides by.

At other times
Allegro to Prestissimo
The carousel whirls
You just can’t get off
Acceleration moves
Into crazy overdrive
Screaming “Stop!”
Though no one hears.

Tempus fugit
My friend
Tempus fugit…

Janie Junebug said...

My ex-husband is a scientist. He's an idiot. No, I should say he's insane. All right, I guess he's an insane idiot.

nothoughtsnoprayersnonothing said...

lol

Joanne Noragon said...

You are an extraordinaire rhymer.

jenny_o said...

Belated Happy Birthday, Doug! I hope this is a good year for you. Glad to hear you arrived safely and some of the pressure is now off. Zsuzs sounds like a really good friend to have.

Did I see on Chicken's blog that you are celebrating the snow?!

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Mimi!

jenny_o said...

I'm not sure pliable is the exact word to use, but it rhymed and I was running out of *time* :)

jenny_o said...

Always with the fugit, yes :)

Thanks for contributing, YP. I like the comparison to musical tempos.

jenny_o said...

Well, thank you, Joanne - it's a whole lot easier with internet websites that bring up rhymes for any word at the click of a mouse . . .

Oops, busted :) But in my defense, ya still gotta fit them together, lol

Anonymous said...

Hi Doug Hi PD! So glad you made it Doug. I empathize with you both on the time situation. I have never mastered time. I am always late or ten minutes early. If I’m ten minutes early I will look for something to do that will make me ten minutes late. Happy Birthday Doug! So now you’re.....34?:-) so glad you made it. Great poem Jenny XO chick

Chickens Consigliere said...

Happy Birthday Doug-so glad you made it. Mexican food is always a good way to celebrate. Hope you like Sugar Pine just fine. That's my poem for the day, Jenny. Your poem, as usual, is wonderful. I have not mastered time. I think of it is a constantly moving target, when I think of it at all.

baili said...

what an excellent poetry dear Jenny ,you wrote exactly what is needed to write about time mostly :)))
i bet everyone can relate to your expressions easily :)
time is weird as much i think about time sounds fascinating and scary at same time ,puzzle unsolved ,my eldest son often share his knowledge and it amazes me more ,hesays time is curved when it passes close to heavy bodies ,i am trying to understand and so many more what ,how and why are hitting my head lol
loved the song too
wishing you happy peaceful times ahead my dear friend :)
hugs!

37paddington said...

So very true!

Martha said...

I told self not to click on the music video but self doesn't listen. Now I do have an earworm :)

jenny_o said...

I have trouble with those scientific theories, too, baili - I don't know how other folks are able to understand them :) It's a good thing they can, though!

Hugs to you, too :)

jenny_o said...

I'm glad it's not just me :)

jenny_o said...

Self may have to sit on the naughty step, lol!

jenny_o said...

Chicken, I assume both these comments were from you, but I wanted to publish both of them because in the "anonymous" one you made a point that really resonates with me - if I ever manage to be early I try to get something done that invariably makes me late. I think it's a disease! You'd think after this many years on the planet I wouldn't do that, but I do. A shrink would probably have a field day with that :)

Diane Henders said...

Ha! Your poem hit the nail on the head! Although for the past several years I haven't been in ANY situations where it felt as though time was dragging. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing... ;-)

jenny_o said...

It could just be a sign of aging . . . wait, that wasn't very diplomatic of me, was it?? :D

Diane Henders said...

LOL! It's hard to argue with the truth. ;-)

jenny_o said...

Thank you for taking that in the spirit in which it was meant; i.e., joking!

Mr. Shife said...

Excellent poem, jenny_o. One of my favorites and so very true. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

jenny_o said...

Thank you, Mr. S., and the same to you and all the Shifes.