punctual

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury 
centuries ago
it seems
since

I kept a timepiece
strapped
     round a pulsing circulation
     a merry go round
    like the faces of clocks

swung the pendulum
at 13
joined the throng of
serious watchers of 
the stroke 
midnight
quarter hours
divisions by 60
on the dot

never later than they said
tut tut tutting
ticking off

tardiness was next to sinfulness

still is 
a rebuff to any arrangement 

waiting at the altar        on the tarmac      by the platform clock

time was though when it was boundary for me
safety net for them
the therapy room clock subtly seconding each unspoken moment 

timepiece is my heart beat now
I need no other monitor of passing

Joining Melissa for her Poetics prompt: Unpunctuated in which we do away with all those guiding symbols of pause and meaning

34 thoughts on “punctual”

  1. I love this time piece (pun intended!) Laura. I’m a punctual person and your poem resonated with me, especially:

    ‘tardiness was next to sinfulness

    still is
    a rebuff to any arrangement

    waiting at the altar        on the tarmac      by the platform clock’

    and

    ‘timepiece is my heart beat now
    I need no other monitor of passing’.

    1. thank you for your appreciation Kim – I too am punctual but I have not worn a watch for years – so now my inner clock is accurate to within a few minutes

  4. sadness of stroke, and passing. the altar, the tarmac,

    the boundary and safety net dichotomy is perfect and personal.

    this is best: “the therapy room clock subtly seconding each unspoken moment”

  5. I like the way your poem keeps time, Laura, in its flow and rhythm, line breaks. And the sense of summation or finality, an “ending” on acceptance that all we have (and don’t) is time.

  6. Tardiness takes on a new meaning in Asia but it has taught me a lot of patience. I stopped wearing watches because everyone else had one. If I needed to know the time I would ask someone. It seems weird to spend a lot of money on something that gives you information that is easily found for free. Nice write, Laura 👏

  7. Your title has produced a rash of puns in your commenters, Laura, I loved this meditation on time.

    I haven’t forgotten about Barbara Hepworth and i will be in touch about it…

    1. the pun arrived promptly on seeing the prompt and the poem followed shortly after 😉

      p.s. good to see you back as it were and for the heads up on Hepworth

  8. A nice twist on the prompt, Laura. Punctual seems to be a defining moment for many. I loved the therapy clock ticking off the hours.

  9. I love your take on the prompt. You saw punctual in unpunctuated. I kept misreading the prompt as unpunctured. It led you to timepieces, and led me to balloons.

    1. many thanks Maggie – the different perspectives on prompts is what I enjoy most about our dVerse gatherings – your excellent poem being a case in point!

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