Church Bells

The steeple bell

from the Anglican church

chimes every 15 minutes,

doing a double at the bottom

of the hour, and nothing short

of a concerto at the top.

I check my watch

and it’s 2 minutes ahead

of what I hear,

on par with my smartphone

and the shortwave station

that’s purportedly set

to an atomic clock.

They say on WWV

that it’s accurate

to within a nanosecond

every 3 or so million years,

though I doubt

the Australopithecines

who must have got it going

could have foretold the competition

from Rolex, Samsung, and the Rector’s

reliable ringing

just a block-and-a-half away;

that these simple-minded crosses

of apes and men

could have envisioned accuracy

above that of God,

that His House of Worship

is 120 ticks behind the times,

that I haven’t a clue what to do

with that brief but priceless allotment

that the good Lord, if He is right,

has given me.

Andreas Gripp

Andreas Gripp