Have you ever stood still?
Away from your to-do lists,
And watched a funeral cortege?
Shiny, silent, calm, black limousines
Harrassed by a vulgar little Datsun,
Which snatches its way forwards,
Grievance by grievance?
Do you appreciate time?

When did you last juggle finance?
Sat down with the window envelopes
And stacked the debtors' demands?
Shuffled loans between your car -
Is it a Datsun? - and your cards,
Which rely on next month,
Every month?
Do you appreciate time?

When did you last see your children?
Dug for your assumptions again,
Hoped for certainty before death?
Wondered if they will ever say it,
If they know what it can mean,
Realise its potential,
Given opportunity?
Do you appreciate time?

Would you say you slept well last night?
Slid away into a voidless sigh,
Fantastic presumptions made real?
Deliberated at length over your dreams,
Estimating their places ahead of you,
Ordering progress into plans,
Decade after decade?
Do you appreciate time?

Can you describe yesterday?
Gone forever, yet fixed and solid,
Deterministic if you found it again?
A jigsaw piece, a stepping-stone,
Rungs on your ladder upwards,
Towards what, though,
And when, and when?
Do you really appreciate time?