Lengths of Time
by Phyllis McGinley
Time is peculiar
And hardly exact.
Though minutes are minutes,
You'll find for a fact
(As the older you get
And the bigger you grow)
That time can
Hurrylikethis
Or p l o d, p l o d, s l o w.
Waiting for your dinner when your hungry?
Down with the sniffles in your bed?
Notice how an hour crawls along and crawls along
Like a snail with his house upon his head.
But when you are starting
A game in the park,
It's morning,
It's noon,
And suddenly dark.
And hours like seconds
Rush blurringly by,
Whoosh!
Like a plane in the sky.
