Time's Hands

There is a place where time ended,
And a place before it began.

And in between, soft single moments,
Blended like palms and hands.

Light holds these unseen moments,
And moves them one by one.

Dreams unfold their passing power,
And our eyes keep them undone.

The sky will be soon clearer,
While water turns cold and dark.

And this moment will move quickly,
Just before the dark.

There was a time when this place ended,
And a time when it began.

Each and every dream we give,
To time's still turning hands.


Time in a lot of ways reminds me of poems. You can guess and guess all day why the writer wrote what he did, but there's no guarantee that you're right. You'd have to ask him yourself.
So, for this assignment, I wrote a poem and for the first time ever, explained the meaning behind it in as best I could. I added how the photo-shopped picture refers to parts of the poem as well.

"There is a place where time ended, and a place before it began." These lines refer to time being set down, and in a sense having become unalterable. We cannot physically enter these places, only in our imagination. The picture shows this through the sense of light coming from a place above, and the sense of darkness covering a place beneath.

"And in between, soft single moments, blended like palms and hands." These lines reference my idea of human lives being separate but still strung together or attached like fingers on a hand. I used the word soft to describe our moments or memories because regardless of disposition, our memories are dear to us. The picture shows this by a hand reaching gently up or "forward" (in my mind).

"Light holds these unseen moments, and moves them one by one." Light designates where we get our idea of time, a sun dial. It holds the invisible hands of time along with our visible memories or images...we can only see (to remember) when there is light. The random particles and dots represent our memories flowing through time.

"Dreams unfold their passing power, and our eyes keep them undone." We dream often taking time along with us. We can dream of the past and the future...it is powerful...and it passes by us every second. We can usually only dream fully with our eyes closed. When our eyes are opened, the dreams become undone. It is sad in a sense because we can seemingly only do one or the other...dream or live. The picture does not represent these lines, the reader does.

"The sky will be soon clearer, while water turns cold and dark." Reminding us that our dream must be met by a reality. The sun is setting, and the sky will be clearer to see the stars. The water will follow suit...but will keep turning or flowing on with time. The blue hues in the picture give the illusion of water.

"And this moment will move quickly, just before the dark." As if to catch ourselves before waking from a dream, reminding us that time still moves quickly to it's end. Referring back to the darkening sky and water...each of our lives will end, but new ones will continue moving (water). There is a beauty to be seen after our time, when our sun shines no longer (night/dark) there will be the stars for us to see and continue our memories (life/place after death/time).

"There was a time when this place ended, and a time when it began." Remembering how similar these lines were to the first few. That's when this time/place began...and now this moment/memory will end soon.

"Each and every dream we give, to time's still turning hands." Telling us to see reality for what it is (we are bound by time), but not to fear it, because it is still moving onward to a clearer dawn.