Poetry Slam #1
Perhaps, dear reader, you can indulge me a bit. I am a fan of poetry. Haiku. Iambic pentameter. I get a kick out of the various ways to use language, I suppose. But, since I enjoy humor so much, I think I most enjoy the limerick, which lends itself so beautifully to silliness.
And, I’ve recently been inspired through some everyday silliness to write a one of a kind, multi-verse limerick.
Since I don’t consume much in the way of advertisements these days, when I see one now, I can’t help but laugh at the way they draw parallels between happiness and their product(s). My favorite marketing pitch is the age old idea of trying to save time, which inspired this ridiculous blog post.
Enjoy!
If there was a bank
Or a hole or a tank
That could hold all the time we could spare
From modern appliance
To corporate compliance
Each minute packed tightly in there
We should feel just fine
Retrieving this time
To use how exactly we pleased
Like time at the beach
Or stewing a peach
Or enjoying a day full of ease.
For each wave of tech
Reduced pains in the neck
Of spending a long day in toil
Each minute saved
Turns to leisurely days
A value that no one can spoil.
Our stockpile of hours
Will let us smell flowers
And enjoy the fresh light from the sun
We’ve put in our work
So now we can shirk
Further duties and just go have fun.
We can run and can play
Friends and family, hooray
Memories all in the making
Our labor all done
The minutes are won
And the stockpile of time’s for the taking.
Wait, what’s that, you say?
You’re not finding the day
That you saved in the tank all along?
The software and apps
And all the life hacks
Didn’t work, were all of them wrong?
You organized life
To minimize strife
Get your time back minute by minute
Where do they show?
You’ve looked high and looked low
In the bank but there’s just nothing in it.
All this saving of time
I’ll admit, it’s sublime
And magical thinking at best.
The time that we “saved”
Just means that we cave
Working more, and displacing good rest.
We value the sheen
Of just being seen
As productive, and simply do more.
Or we give the few hours
Of limited power
To electronics whenever we’re bored.
Truth to be told
We never can hold
The elusive nature of time
“Now” never can be
Bottled up, can’t you see,
It’s mysterious nature sublime.
Stop trying to save it
And hoard it and crave it
With spreadsheets you made in Excell.
There is a limit
To your time on this planet
So instead spend the time you have well.