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Clocks of Times

Thursday 06 June, 2024

by Alexander Straub (Germany & St John's 1996)

A poem written by Alexander Straub, after being inspired by Darren Almond's paintings of numbers and French-German poet Jules Laforgue.

Clocks

When we transitioned,
from past to present,
on Railway platforms,
in rainy days of lovers dreams.

When these kinds of clocks appeared,
the muse held your soul,
the mistress had your body,
the mother touched your face.

When these kinds of analogue words,
appeared in transition to the digital.
The seventies marked my birth:
“Ah, here comes the future!”

The analogue is continues,
The digital is in steps.

Love it, it is continues progress!

The life of the digital an illusion,
it pretended to be a lovers ride,
more accurate in its inclusion.
but instead it’s was mechanical divide.

You suddenly lost,
something when binary,
there in the unknown digital host,
Is it a “Yes” or a “No”,
The “One” or the “Zero”.

You lost the continuity, 
the connection to the moon,
the rise of your soft body, to the flares of sun,
to the cycle of times, of death and life.

Yet,
   Love
        remained
                  continues.

"Clocks of Times" reflects on the shift from the analogue to the digital era, highlighting the continuity and emotional richness of the past compared to the segmented, mechanical nature of modern digital life. The poem laments the loss of natural rhythms and deep human connections in the digital age, suggesting that despite technological advancements, the essential, enduring experience of love remains continuous and unbroken. Through evocative imagery and metaphors, it explores themes of time, technology, and the timeless nature of human emotions.

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