Friday, September 29, 2006

Royal Observatory

You need time to see
All there is to see
At the old Royal Observatory

In the octagonal room
The long pendulum of time
Swings slowly
And on a cool New Year’s Eve
You find yourself
Standing on the frost-flecked slopes
Of Observatory Hill
Watching for the second
Which every year escapes

Meanwhile
The new-fangled atomic clock
Loses only one second
Every billion years

How can we live
With such a gaping margin of error?

10 comments:

Roger Stevens said...

Been soooooo busy lately - no time to blog. I've put two poems up - so you may comment on either or both here.

Working on a new music project. Back in 1968 at art college I wrote loads of songs with my friend Ralph. We spent hours sitting around a reel to reel tape recorder playing and writing tunes. I recently found the tapes and transferred them to my computer. Then I thought - the songs aren't too bad - I'll record them anew. So that's what I plan to do.

I lost contact with Ralph. If you're out there somewhere - give me a call!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Nice irony in the poem and I hope Ralph turns up!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Perhapse you'll find him with all the seconds and a mountain of odd socks, love the poem it made me giggle

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Just read the second, it's strange when you pass a funeral cortage and it always makes me think about how someone well probably everyone close to that person has had their world rocked.

As for Summer, well I suppose its harder to be disapointed by Autumn, I mean there's little chance of the leaves remaining stubbornly attatched or us complaining of the lack of fog or wind.

Incidently I've been amusing the kids with the secrets of Pants, fortunately there are no giraphs in them.

Jon said...

Very good.

Thanks for the coment on my blog. Didn't understand it tho' as I'm in the UK?!! Where did we miss eachother?

Jon said...

All is clear, sort of...

Wastedpapiers said...

I like the first poem the best. The one about the margin of error. So much for atomic energy eh?

Ralph is probably a chartered accountant now and will deny ever knowing you!

gulnaz said...

you had me standing on the frost flecked slopes there with that poem and the irony is realllly nice. i liked the first one too!

hey i hope you find your freind...it would be such fun for you guys to record something you did so long back.

Russell CJ Duffy said...

a trick of the tale and call it poetry. poetry by the dodger.
old music?
always fun but not if you listen to my old bands sad attempts.

Roger Stevens said...

Hope eveyone in Bloggerland is okay. Haven't had time to blog for a while. I must get some more poems up. I've written several that just need a bit of touching up.

Bed now, though. Gnight.