The old astronomical clock in Wimbourne Minster
I can remember the first time I was given a wrist watch - it was a birthday present - I strapped the watch around my thin wrist - I stared, fascinated, at the second hand, sweeping around the dial - I think I was aged ten or eleven -
I started reading Science Fiction at around the same time - the Pan Science Fiction paperbacks had disturbing, alluring, covers - they glowed like weird jewels upon the shelves of Miles Bookshop -
I picked up a novel by Clifford Simak - he wrote about a young man able to project his mind to the stars - he was given a message, light years beyond the sun - time is the simplest thing he was told -
I lay awake, in my bed - what might this message mean, beyond the story?
I had dreams within which I flew - I swooped above the dull streets - beautiful songs filled my head - how could one make sense of time?
For all of my working life, I was consumed by time - I looked at my watch in meetings - the bursar knew all my tricks - Chris, stop looking at your watch!
During my first, terrible, term of teaching, I would look up at the classroom clock - I would beat down my despair - surely more than two minutes had passed by!
Now, waiting for scans, colonoscopies, test results, I say - four more days - that's four more eternities -
Recently, however, I think I came to terms with time - I was strolling around inside Wimbourne Minster, seeking out the chained library - I suddenly saw a beautiful astronomical clock - it was more than four hundred years old - two angels blew long gold trumpets - the sun and the moon revolved around the blue earth - stars were arranged upon a dark heaven -
As I looked at the clock, I felt that I could sense the planets circling in their orbits - I could feel each second,like a grain of sand, falling upon my opened palm -
I felt reassured of my place in time - here I was, there I would be - there were all the people I loved - there they were, there they would be -
I walked towards the centre of the Minster - there, high above me, I saw brave stars, painted upon a blue heaven -
I can remember the first time I was given a wrist watch - it was a birthday present - I strapped the watch around my thin wrist - I stared, fascinated, at the second hand, sweeping around the dial - I think I was aged ten or eleven -
I started reading Science Fiction at around the same time - the Pan Science Fiction paperbacks had disturbing, alluring, covers - they glowed like weird jewels upon the shelves of Miles Bookshop -
I picked up a novel by Clifford Simak - he wrote about a young man able to project his mind to the stars - he was given a message, light years beyond the sun - time is the simplest thing he was told -
I lay awake, in my bed - what might this message mean, beyond the story?
I had dreams within which I flew - I swooped above the dull streets - beautiful songs filled my head - how could one make sense of time?
For all of my working life, I was consumed by time - I looked at my watch in meetings - the bursar knew all my tricks - Chris, stop looking at your watch!
During my first, terrible, term of teaching, I would look up at the classroom clock - I would beat down my despair - surely more than two minutes had passed by!
Now, waiting for scans, colonoscopies, test results, I say - four more days - that's four more eternities -
Recently, however, I think I came to terms with time - I was strolling around inside Wimbourne Minster, seeking out the chained library - I suddenly saw a beautiful astronomical clock - it was more than four hundred years old - two angels blew long gold trumpets - the sun and the moon revolved around the blue earth - stars were arranged upon a dark heaven -
As I looked at the clock, I felt that I could sense the planets circling in their orbits - I could feel each second,like a grain of sand, falling upon my opened palm -
I felt reassured of my place in time - here I was, there I would be - there were all the people I loved - there they were, there they would be -
I walked towards the centre of the Minster - there, high above me, I saw brave stars, painted upon a blue heaven -
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