Thursday 18 February 2010

A poem by the Danish poet Benny Andersen


High time

It’s time
the water’s boiling
the earth’s burning
the world’s waiting
when Alexander was Caesar’s age
he was already The Great
when Caesar was my age
he was already done for
they didn’t waste time
time didn’t waste them
they used time like a shirt
slept with it on
were buried in it
and here am I
keep a newspaper
keep Christmas
keep holding back
let exploits pass in front of my nose
hopelessly behindhand with discoveries
the world won’t wait
when Mozart was five
when Jesus was twelve
when Columbus weighed anchor
when Homer
when Rembrandt
when Pasteur
when Darwin
when Dalgas
da Vinci
da Gama
Damocles
it’s high time
it’s more than time
my hat
my coat
my cycle clips
it’s now or never.

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