Time Cannot be Kept

Posted on January 21, 2020 by mitchteemley

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Salvador Dali had it right:

Clocks cannot be trusted.

Not because they keep poor time,

but because time cannot be kept.

Instead, it keeps us

in cages made of minutes.

And yet the solution is not to escape,

but to find the place within time

where there is no time.

In the mean time,

it will keep us

and it will not melt

until we do

About mitchteemley

Writer, Filmmaker, Humorist, Thinker-about-stuffer
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36 Responses to Time Cannot be Kept

  1. Eliza Ayres says:
    January 21, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    Reblogged this on Blue Dragon Journal.

    Reply
  2. Lady Quixote/Linda Lee says:
    January 21, 2020 at 12:29 pm

    Great poem. Made me think.

    What I don’t understand is how time can fly by so fast when everything is going good, but it drags on forever during the painful stuff.

    Also, how can I be in my 60s already, when I feel like I should still be 25!

    Reply
  3. Donna Cameron says:
    January 21, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    Lovely and thought-provoking, Mitch. This time, you’ve scooped me. I am also working on a blog post about time … seems to be on a lot of minds these days. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. almagrowth says:
    January 21, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    Deep sense, thanks.

    Reply
  5. Heidi Viars says:
    January 21, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    Great post! Nope, time is not money … and no, you can’t save time!

    Reply
  6. boromax says:
    January 21, 2020 at 1:25 pm

    Excellent. Time is a frequent subject in my poetry. In one of my first poems (50+ years ago) I referred to time as “a ruthless dictator.” Your poem reminded me of something I just posted today: https://imagehorde.blogspot.com/2020/01/fames-swipe.html

    Reply
  7. jenanita01 says:
    January 21, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    I sometimes wish I didn’t have any clocks, as I think I work better when not aware of the time…

    Reply
  9. Don't Lose Hope says:
    January 21, 2020 at 1:47 pm

    So very true!

    Reply
  10. Lisa Long Preisler says:
    January 21, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    I’m in a cage of counting days… someday I’ll break free- when I am ready…

    Reply
  11. Bill Sweeney says:
    January 21, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    This is great, Mitch. When we’re going through a trial, we tend to think that our life is on hold and time should stop until we “get back in the game.” We soon discover that trials are part of the game. Major bummer 🙂

    Reply
  13. Erika says:
    January 21, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    Finding the place in the meantime. Awesome thought and yes, that is where we can find peace no matter how fast life is evolving around us.

    Reply
  14. lloydslensphotographyllc says:
    January 21, 2020 at 5:15 pm

    I’ve always thought of time as the cradle of immortality. Or that safe place where God has placed us while he prepares the new universe for our us. Right now eternity is dangerous. It’s full of chaos and fallen angels. So our mortal life is a place of protection for children. But when all things are made new and God declares time no more eternity will be ready for his children and we will no longer need the cradle.
    I don’t really have a lot of scripture for that. It’s just a gut feeling.

    Reply
  15. Andrew Reynolds says:
    January 21, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    so I don’t break out of my cage – I melt out of my cage …

    I think my brain’s going to explode.

    Reply
  16. Flowerpoet says:
    January 21, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Beautifully perceptive!

    Reply
  18. nitinsingh says:
    January 21, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    Lovely, V meaningful thnx to share

    Reply
  19. smzang says:
    January 22, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    You truly are a man of many hats!
    Bravo!

    Reply
  20. theministryofsimplekindness says:
    January 23, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    Good points well made, Mitch!

    Reply
  21. Nancy Ruegg says:
    January 23, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    Thought-provoking poem, Mitch. Time does have a way of melting away–except in eternity where it doesn’t exist. How amazing that God makes it possible for us to join him there for an infinity of bliss!

    Reply
  22. Ben Peters says:
    January 24, 2020 at 12:47 am

    The worst moments of my life were when I was most mindful of the time. The best moments of my life were when I was least mindful of the time.

    Reply
  23. fipwmum says:
    January 24, 2020 at 4:11 am

    I thought leaving work would mean I had more time but somehow or other it gets filled!

    Reply
  24. gregoria green says:
    May 1, 2020 at 7:31 am

    Sage words. Modern life has altered time forever with its mechanics and clocks and machines – hasn’t it? I’ve developed a fascination with time recently, in a cosmological way, but also philosophical and poetic, so this little piece fitted perfectly.

    Reply

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