Lengthening of Days

 

Perhaps it’s just me

And maybe it is not you

But this lengthening of days

Has become my view.

 

You may be wondering

What I am talking about

But I will tell you in a minute,

No need to shout.

 

Now, I am a pensioner

But you probably know,

For given how I am looking

It must really show.

 

The shortening of days

You will find in the Word,

It’s really Matthew and Mark

To which I refer.

 

In Matthew 24 verse 22

And Mark 13 verse 20,

The shortening of days is implied

In a prophecy.

 

Whether this be the day

Or the period of time,

This is not what is currently

Occupying my mind.

 

Instead, I reiterate,

It’s the lengthening of days

Since the days seem much longer

When nearing paydays.

 

I live pretty much

From paycheck to paycheck,

Sorry, it’s pension check I mean,

Please check.

 

From the 20th each month

There is a daily grind

In which anticipating pension day

Is on my mind.

Take this April:

That’s been the longest yet,

And I will have to wait till Monday,

You could bet.

 

So, you see what I mean

By the lengthening of days?

It’s very unlike Jesus’ prophecy

In a number of ways.

 

The days do drag along

Just before pension day

And for the last fourteen years

This has been the way.

 

Not with rich people,

Of course not!

But if you are poor like I am,

This is your lot.

 

Please note below

Re information coming to hand,

I received a huge surprise

Which is quite grand?

 

I had written on the 24th

But I got lucky this time,

I woke and checked on the 25th;

My pension is on line.

 

Stewart Russell © April 24, 2025

 

Galloping Time

 

Against what is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What a mystifying craze!

September 1st! Can you believe it?

Eight months gone before you could spit,

Just yesterday this year began

And like Usain Bolt away it ran.

Time appears to be winding down,

Much is going on in every town,

The news is the same in every tabloid

Advising which cities and countries to avoid.

Such is the time in which we live

For peace and safety what wouldn’t one give?

But alas, these commodities are rare

And war and violence is too much to bear.

With just four months to go in this bolting year

Men’s hearts are failing them for fear,

Death and dying fills the air,

For whom next will the Grim Reaper appear?

The rate at which evil is occurring

Is so heart stopping and so unnerving,

Seared consciences and little respect for life

Give rise to conflict and unimaginable strife.

Against what is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What an absolute mystifying craze!

There is a saying under the sun,

“How time flies when we’re having fun!”

Here is a difference we must admit, though

How we wish evil could go on “go-slow”!

It is as though someone is deliberately at work,

Yes, some particularly insensitive jerk

And who not even time can divert

From seeing all of life interred in the dirt.

We have an idea who that someone is

So I need not ask that question in a quiz,

Most people know though unwilling to admit

That until all is lost that someone won’t quit.

And so now that someone races against time

And time races too I humbly opine,

A real race, more than an illusion of the mind,

It’s a race that affects people of every kind.

 

Many have lost the race against time

Their time having run out, nature’s design,

Having come to the end of their daily grind

At the end of their day were forced to resign.

For the others time gallops on at a terrific rate

Like a runaway train ignoring the gate,

Whistles, warning lights and trumpeting horns

Have no impact on time’s oncoming storm.

Time, a created segment within eternity,

Is quickly approaching its end, that’s a certainty,

As predetermined by the Godhead Trinity

It’s coming to an end most definitely.

And so too this year having just begun

Races on like a bullet triggered from a gun

And like the thousands that have gone before

Gives subtle insinuations of what is in store.

More of the same, perhaps more intense

Evil on the increase, intrigue and suspense,

Amidst it all a certain bravado and pretense

As the more aware become more incensed.

Against what really is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What really is this time galloping phase?

Stewart Russell © September 2017