THE JEWELS OF TIME

mankind, before the age of clocks
had just the moon and sun
to mark the time when days were through
and when they'd just begun

in wintertime, it got too cold
in summertime, too hot
they resisted any kind of urge
to twist things in a knot

then mankind got more arrogant
they tried to manage time
by naming bits and chunks of it
to fit their song and rhyme

just like a gemstone they had found
they cut it up with tools
formed weeks and days and hours
like a little row of jewels

they coined some terms like "century"
the "decade" and the "year"
then backwards to the "nanosecond"
could things be less clear ?

alas, mankind won't stand the test
they're mortal by design
that's when their little pile of jewels
are cast back in the mine

though mankind's tried to carve up time
we know this much is true
when all is said and done
it will be time that carves up you