A greedy king of untold wealth
who lived alone - kept to himself -
collected clocks of every kind
inside his castle, so refined.
He spent his money left and right
indulging in his own delight
but never lent a helping hand
to those misfortuned in his land.
He wound each timepiece day and night
and rarely saw the morning light.
There in his safe and comfy shell,
he lived his life and lived it well.
The seasons passed within those walls -
the springs, the summers, and the falls.
The king, surrounded by his court
of clocks, inside his self-made fort.
He placed each clock upon a shelf
then madly giggled to himself;
he’d search his realm, buy every one;
he’d own all time when he was done!
Beyond those ramparts, life went on
for every peasant, knight, and pawn;
A drought sprung up across the land
that turned once fertile ground to sand.
The cattle starved. The crops all died.
Men passed too young; their widows cried.
The death count rose beyond compare
and yet the king was unaware.
Soon one by one his kingdoms fell
beyond his self-indulgent cell.
And as men do, the king grew old
surrounded by his wealth of gold.
He felt the weathered hand of time.
He heard the clicks, the tolling chime,
of each and every worn out clock -
that never ending ‘tick’ then ‘tock’.
Within his fold, he now grew bored
with clocks that spoke in just one chord
and longed to hear human refrains -
But, sadly, no one else remained.
As years passed on, each clock wore out
till soon the king was left without
even their dull, relentless ticks
within his solitude of bricks.
The great king ended out his life
devoid of children, friends or wife.
The moral to this simple rhyme -
No matter what, you can’t buy time.
A contest entry
- Ten Thousand Points of Rhyme - The Invitational! Named Poets Only by cricketjeff.
6500 points, ended April 4, 2008, 17 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Prewrites But NO "fresh" writes by ecrivain01.
450 points, ended June 6, 2008, 77 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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In another contest ...
this might have done better, but with over 100 entries, I had too many really good poems and not enough places.
Thanks for entering and good luck with your writing in the future. -
Not bad ...
but you need to fix this:
Within his fold, he now grew bored
of clocks that spoke in just one chord
(grew bored with clocks)
you don't grow "bored of" anything in English.
Otherwise, you've done a fairly credible job with this. Congrats on your HM in the other contest.
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thanks, as always, for the edit
Ruth
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time is the most powerful thing in this world...we are not aware of it and waste our own life ..the moral well brought out in the poem...
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What an amazing write! A story that held me enthralled, with a message that is irrefutable! Well done, poet!
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Speaking of clocks
This was very nice I liked everything about it. Hope you do well in the contest.
Thanks for commenting
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How true your words.We need to live and love every second of every day and share that joy with others.Only in the sharing we will find the worth.An excellent message in a great form.So pleased you like rhyming, Ros
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Ruth this is excellent i was drawn into it from the opening line and raced along eager to read the next stanza.Rhyme perfect , flow excellent, content superb poetry at it best This has to be the one to keep an eye on in this contest
Magical
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Nicely done Ruth
I too realize the worth of time and retired last year to have more quality with family and friends. Hard to retire, not sure if someone really can. Raise cows and crops now but fish more with grandkids.
You take care my friend.
Jim
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