The Steadfast March of Time



The saddest thing about Time, I think,
is how it marches on.
All steady, it doesn’t miss a beat;
each moment to the next is gone.

Time’s stalwart march keeps changing things.
Constant, it leaves nothing alone.
Fast or slow, but reliably,
it alters houses, rivers, and stone.

Time will turn a well-built home
into rotting, falling-down logs
and shift or dry up rivers,
leaving parched land or stagnant bogs.

The saddest thing about Time, I think,
is its relentless one-way track.
No use bargaining for a change of pace,
or begging for a brief step back.

We cannot keep a precious hour
or save people dear to our hearts,
so we who care are left bereft
when Time pulls us apart.

We may think our lives important
and our deeds uniquely great,
but Time will soon erase us.
For no one does Time wait.

We each are just a tiny blip
in the eternal stream of Time.
In eons hence, will there be a hint
of our work, our thoughts, our rhymes?

The saddest thing about Time, I think
is how it marches on.
Experience each moment, dearly,
for as quickly as it comes, it’s  gone.

About this poem

I think a lot about time and have written several poems about it. The first lines of this came to me as I was walking in the beautiful spring countryside.

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Written on May 24, 2023

Submitted by janet_1 on May 24, 2023

1:08 min read
57

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABxb xcdc xexe Afxf xxxx xgxg xxxx ABdb
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,084
Words 227
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Janet Muirhead Hill

 · 1942 · Colorado

Janet Muirhead Hill is a novelist who occasionally writes poetry for fun and for self-expression. Her published books include the Miranda and Starlight series of horse stories for middle-grade readers and other fiction. more…

All Janet Muirhead Hill poems | Janet Muirhead Hill Books

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"The Steadfast March of Time" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Nov. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/161364/the-steadfast-march-of-time>.

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