The Spectre of Time

Below is a poem I penned in my final year of high school and appeared in the 1977 school year book.

In 2007 I sent my poem to International Open Poetry Contest and I ended up as a semifinalist!

I was quite surprised as I did not think the poem was THAT good!

I did not follow through and purchase a copy of Immortal Verses , so I am not sure if it was ever published.

The reason I am posting it in this blog is that I think we can all relate to the subject of time in an office job where we are always racing the clock....but at WA there is no need to race the clock because your success is determined by yourself, not some stats minded tyrant of a boss looking over your shoulder demanding some or other report/spreadsheet/ etc etc!

P.S.I have included two comments the organisation that I sent my poem to.

TIME

Time:

the all-consuming phantom

that ravages the spectrum of day and night,

crawling endlessly,

inexorably,

it ghosts through the twilight of life.

Time speeds up and myriads of rabbits

strive witlessly

to beat its sudden rush.

Inching across the walls of a prison,

torturously,

agonisingly slowly,

watched by the trapped inmate

Time;

ticks treacherously through happy moments,

bringing then to an all-too-soon-end.

Institutions of today are ruled entirely by that

intangible,

irrational spectre,

Time.

Anthony Metcalf 1977

Dear Anthony,

Several weeks ago, we informed you by mail that our editors have certified your poem "Time" as a semi-finalist in our International Open Poetry Contest. I'm writing to remind you that your poem will automatically be entered into the final competition held in Fall 2007.

P.S. Anthony, you should be genuinely proud of your accomplishment. You have been selected to participate in this very special edition because of your unique vision. It is our pleasure to publish fine poetry such as yours in this historic volume. And, if you decide to order Immortal Verses, we are so certain that you will love the quality of the edition and the way your poetry is presented, we can proudly offer an unconditional guarantee. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, your money will be promptly refunded.