this is my little wooden

perpetual desk calendar

with cricket bat and ball

the one that bowls away my days

my parents bought it years ago

in Brixham or Torquay

or somewhere similar by the sea

when I left home my Mum gifted it to me

she told me it was my responsibility

to look after my own share of time

make the most of what’s to come

the printed days and months have faded

they’ve been changed countless times

thumbed and shuffled

my first chore every morning

sometimes later when I’ve been hungover

or not at all when I’ve been away

big chunks of time having gone untouched

left suspended whilst I went adrift

whole days left dangling

whilst I went searching for some truth

but I’ve always come back to my

little wooden perpetual desk calendar

 

but now I find from day to day

my weeks and months are passing fast

my days and nights are flying past

and my future still looks oddly bleak

I guess I’ll keep on keeping time

the responsibility that was gifted me

but the purpose now appears less clear

one day the print will all be gone

and I will simply leave it

to its own

 

words and pictures ©Colin Hill 2015