Eight Minutes To One
In the early hours the radio alarm
went off at eight minutes to one
despite me setting it earlier for six
and checking that it was on.
Now wide awake I rechecked the setting;
and I had definitely made no mistake.
I put it down to an electrical malfunction
and fell asleep until it was time to wake.
I didn’t think any more about the alarm
and continued with my normal day.
The alarm was already set for six o’clock
so I went to bed in the usual way.
At eight minutes to one the alarm went off
exactly the same time as the previous night.
Again I checked on my alarm settings
and again everything was set right.
This time I unplugged the whole radio unit
and recalibrated the time and alarm.
I was now happy that all would be okay
and fell asleep relaxed and calm.
The following night I went to bed as usual
and slept until eight minutes to one.
The cursed radio alarm went off again,
so this radio’s days were done.
The next day I bought an electrical travel clock
and tried out the alarm there and then.
It worked like a charm and I was very pleased,
so that night I went to bed at ten.
At eight minutes to one the alarm went off again
and I could hardly believe this to be true.
I was faced with a problem that had to be sorted,
and a mechanical clock should do.
I bought a large brass, twin belled wind up clock;
set the alarm and several times tried it out.
That night I retired expecting a good night’s sleep,
with no electrics to care about.
At eight minutes to one the alarm went off,
and I threw the clock against the wall.
I was now convinced something supernatural
was causing the earlier morning call.
Over the next few days I tried several clocks
and the alarms went off the same.
In the end I didn’t have a clock in the room,
and I never will again.
poem by Orlando Belo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
A monologue on 'nothing in particular
Well you know,
It always begins like this
'The day starts'
Half an hour early for me
Clocks set hour an hour early
The day begins
Well morning starts
With a break of sunlight
Flooding through the cracks
In the blinds
In summer it is always much earlier
Than the pre set time on the alarm clock
Which is primed to go off
Half an hour earlier
Inevitably
The light wakes me at sunrise
Which often occurs around five o'clock
Like some cruel trick
I am woken exactly an hour or is it half an hour
Before my alarm clock goes off, half an hour earlier?
Which is set to go off half an hour early
But that never happens in the summer
The lie in ends up a sleep over
In winter this is a different matter again
With no light
So there I am at five in the morning
exactly or, approximately the time
The sun is meant to set
[bar a second or to or maybe a minute
behind or ahead of prediction]
There I am WIDE AWAKE
No lie in
No chance of sleeping
Again
Exept at the WRONG TIME!
Then I recover
Five minutes behind schedule
pull the blind
make a cup of tea
giving myself exactly
thirty minutes
Before drinking it
to get ready for work
Flossing does not happen until
A much later time
There is a ten minute interval
For toast and tea
And tidying away
My watch is set five minutes ahead
Or maybe three minutes
I leave on time
In time for the bus that leaves
Two minutes early
The next one arrives ten minutes late
The driver
Has donated his brain to medical science
Thirty years prior to his death
Give or take a couple of hours or minutes
He slips into a slow coma behind the steering wheel
The world is in slow motion
Catatonia eclipses the traffic
I am now on time
To be late
despite all my carefully timed efforts
Now that was just the beginning of the morning
yvette smith
poem by Yvette Smith
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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On Alarm
You said he was your brother
But his name was not miller
So if you wanna cheat me, baby
Youre getting a real killer
Im on alarm now baby
Be sure Ill get you if I want
Im on alarm now baby
Be sure Ill get you if I want
You said your dad is working
And you think your mothers too
But I dont love your parents
So I cant belive you
Im on alarm now baby
Be sure Ill get you if I want
Im on alarm now baby
Be sure Ill get you if I want
Im on alarm now baby
Be sure Ill get you if I want
Im on alarm - (hes on alarm)...
song performed by by Fury In The Slaughterhouse
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tick Tick Tick....!
Tick Tick Tick Tick,
Clock Ticks,
Lub dub Lub Dub heart beats,
Cycle of inhaling and exhaling
makes breath,
Pulses from unknown center has own lifetime,
keeps time for us, clock that set in
every cell schedules its life and
birth! Life is light trapped in atom,
excited electron has to fall back,
Just like life raises up and falls
back,
rhythm, wavelength and
frequency decide energy of light, local time may not match with
clock in other region,
Light travels covering space
does truly decide time?
You are the medium where light
is slowest, faster it is in different medium
and plane, Before the internal clock stops,
Sending warning alarm,
Alarm thyself, you are here not
only to know,
But also to the wish of the one
beyond light and clock, who can fix clock even in a light
photon,
can fix clock in everything,
Arise and awake before chime of
alarm,
No snooze is there in your clock, Never get yourself lost in
yawning,
No one can stay here.
when time is up!
Namaste and thank you all before
my clock ticks and buzz to say
time is up!
poem by Ramdas Bhandarkar
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If you can't distinguish how to whistle a festival alarm from a warning alarm, then better not alarm and let s/he who knows the difference to do the alarming.
Fire Alarms
The breath of sleep is heard
every room is quietly in
slumber world
on university Campus.
Fear no fire alarm –
6.50 fire alarm sirens echoes
all around
with the piercing noise
like a dog in pain.
Inside a room, the breath of sleep
is no longer heard
but the scrambles and
the bitter words of a start
to a morning, where
sleep was half undone.
No amusement is etched on
faces, grumpy, sleepy faces,
one by one appear
outside the door.
Sleepiness carved like wood
on faces:
as the fire alarm
continues to blare out its message.
Oh fire alarm, you wicked fire alarm;
always blare like a dog in pain
at the wrong time.
Slumber world has gone
on university
and my sleep was half undone
yet again.
(another day on campus in bed, when the fire alarm goes off, and we all have to go out in our pjamas at 6.50 in the morning. No amusement there. I dislike fire alarms nowadays with contempt.)
poem by Celine Berghmans
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Amelia
I was driving across the burning desert
When I spotted six jet planes
Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain
It was the hexagram of the heavens
It was the strings of my guitar
Amelia, it was just a false alarm
The drone of flying engines
Is a song so wild and blue
It scrambles time and seasons if it gets thru to you
Then your life becomes a travelogue
Of picture-post-card-charms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm
People will tell you where theyve gone
Theyll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Others just come to harm
Oh amelia, it was just a false alarm
I wish that he was here tonight
Its so hard to obey
His sad request of me to kindly stay away
So this is how I hide the hurt
As the road leads cursed and charmed
I tell amelia, it was just a false alarm
A ghost of aviation
She was swallowed by the sky
Or by the sea, like me she had a dream to fly
Like icarus ascending
On beautiful foolish arms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm
Maybe Ive never really loved
I guess that is the truth
Ive spent my whole life in clouds at icy altitude
And looking down on everything
I crashed into his arms
Amelia, it was just a false alarm
I pulled into the cactus tree motel
To shower off the dust
And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust
I dreamed of 747s
Over geometric farms
Dreams, amelia, dreams and false alarms
song performed by by Joni Mitchell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sound The Alarm
Sound the alarm.
Let's turn off the charm
that has hypnotized our kind.
Hypnotized and robotized
the workings of our mind.
Sound the alarm.
Close the door on the farm
that has penned us in too long.
Sciencized and cannonized
to believe in all that's wrong.
Unite the ones
whose blood still runs
warm when ere they bleed.
Not immunized nor mesmerized
by those not of our seed.
Sound the alarm.
Don't let them disarm
the humans that are awake.
Untranquilized and unvictimized
by the fangs of the deadly snake.
Wake up the rest.
That is the test
to ultimately defeat our foe.
For dehumanized and disorganized
is how they'll have us go
away.
poem by Edwina Reizer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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As Secretary of Housing, I do have to express alarm, signal the alarm if you will, that the potential for homelessness to grow is there.
quote by Henry Cisneros
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In This Desperate Wish
Too early in the morning.
And all the time.
You are there,
As if an alarm clock.
On my mind...
I wish I could rewind,
Stopping to find us...
Once again in love!
At least,
You with me!
As I am with you,
In this desperate wish...
You too,
Knew!
And confirmed.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Sound of My Alarm Clock
The sound of my alarm clock
Strikes me in-between my eyes
Like a crack of lightning,
And all my subconscious thoughts—
All my dreams—
Splatter on impact,
The residue jettisoned around the room,
Looking diffuse through the rolling curtain
Of heavy morning fog.
In that moment, my body is electrically charged,
Pulsing with an evanescent throb of energy
That seems to fade before it began,
And the world starts to pour down on me,
Raining the speckled flecks of wandering thoughts
And lethargic indecision—
The wu wei of discomforted wakefulness.
For another five minutes,
I experience action through non-action,
And what a glorious five minutes those are!
poem by Tim Stensloff
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A Restful Sleep
I was sneaking off to sleep
and was waiting for my alarm to beep
and then I did weep,
with only three hours to sleep...
I could hear only
beep, beep, beep
From my bed I did ooze
and very quickly did press snooze,
crawled between my sheets,
fell into a restful sleep
until I heard a loud
beep, beep, beep
and once again, I did ooze
and once again, I did press snooze
but could not sleep
for all I could hear
was the tock, tock, tock
of the clock, clock, clock
I hit the sheets,
rose to my feet.
'You will not tock!
You stupid clock! '
and in the heat, it did
Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....
And with my all
I kicked the clock against the wall!
after which,
in my sheets I did creep,
and did nothing but
sleep, sleep, sleep
poem by Joseph Wordsmith
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Another Nine Minutes
(tim douglas/billy crain/tim beppert)
(track 2 - time 3:10)
Six thirty in the morning
Im in the middle of the sweetest dream
When I hear that clock calling me
I wrestle with the feeling
That the days starting way too soon
I hit the button just to buy a little time
To keep you in these arms of mine
For another nine minutes
Let the world stop
Steal a few moments from this old clock
cause this is my dream and I want to stay in it
For another nine minutes
I love the way the sunlight
Dances on your perfect skin
Girl, I wish this night would never end
But we gotta get moving
Cant eat if we dont get paid
But I got us a better idea
Lets pull up the covers and stay right here
For another nine minutes
Let the world stop
Steal a few moments from this old clock
cause this is my dream and I want to stay in it
For another nine minutes
I hit the button just one more time
To keep you in these arms of mine
For another nine minutes
Let the world stop
Steal a few moments from this old clock
cause this is my dream and I want to stay in it
For another nine minutes
Let the world wait
Whose gonan care if were a little bit late
This is my dream and I want to stay in it
song performed by by Yankee Grey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fate
There once lived an olive green frog
in the back of a half-rotten log.
He was killed in his sleep
well, the log wasn't deep
and the killer was simply a hog.
As for truffles the hog searched in vain
it was clearer than glass and quite plain,
in his terrible mood
he came wholly unglued
but he later was hit by a train.
Thus the hog and the frog bought the farm,
it was sad that there was no alarm,
though the frog owned a clock
which went tick and then tock
'till the sun was well past the yardarm.
But one night there was Ezel the lizard,
he was known in the woods as a wizard.
Called to fix for the frog
his small clock in the log
a small spring disappeared in his gizzard.
Since no parts were on hand for the clock
they marked North and then South on a rock.
It would show them the time
(the idea was sublime)
'till the clock parts again were in stock.
But, the sun let them down and slept in.
(It is said she is partial to Gin) ,
thus two critters lost big
through no fault of the pig
but the lizard's huge overbite chin.
poem by Herbert Nehrlich
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Summer Nights
Oh, how I hate these hot summer nights,
When a good night's sleep is far from sight.
Lying on my bed, I constantly toss and turn,
While the air around me continuously burns.
My window is slightly ajar to let in some air;
I wonder if I'd be slightly cooler downstairs.
I have rolled down my blanket and my sheet,
But despite doing all this, I still feel the heat.
I watch the clock and the time ticks on by,
But, I just can't sleep, however hard I try.
Feeling restless in the middle of the night,
I climb out of bed and switch on the light.
Feeling so far away from the Land Of Nod,
I sit reading a book and then I play my iPod.
I'm having a bad night, and am not impressed:
I didn't sleep much last night, and need my rest.
As the night draws on, slightly cooler air arrives,
But, by this time, the clock has just struck five.
I hear the little birds singing out at dawn,
And it is only then that I give a big yawn.
My eyelids feel heavy and begin to close,
And, after sleepless hours, I begin to doze.
Finally, I fall asleep: inside my soul feels calm,
But a short time later, I'm woken by the alarm.
By now, my room is flooded by brilliant sunlight;
But I want to stay in bed, with my eyes shut tight.
I feel like I'm almost dead, rather than refreshed;
I certainly don't feel anywhere near my very best.
I don't have much energy: I've no get up and go,
And when I do get up, my movements are slow.
I wish that the temperature at night would dip,
Then I could finally get some much needed kip.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Workaholic
Being workaholic is of great charm
where every one is being alarm!
Alarm! that faints their heart
from the perils of deflowering failure
That paints gaiety
with sublime piety
like a prophetic zeal
neither quaver nor shaky
For the sustenance of those
who marshaled himself gain virility
poem by Hafiz Qasim
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Night
a very small candle by the bedside,
a stack of books that whisper and moan.
a radio i forget to turn on,
and an alarm clock that i hate...
dirty clothes sorted and stacked
like dreams that didnt go well.
a pack of Marlboro's, a couple old hats...
a window that leaks an icy breeze...
my old guitar and a rifle in the corner,
a few prayers that never got said.
your pillow haunted and cold...
i dont want to sleep alone.
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Reversal Of Time
When I awoke from my sleep this morning
I couldn’t believe my eyes
The hands of the clock next to my bed
were racing anti-clockwise.
I got out of my bed to the window
and opened the curtains wide,
the world outside was reversing
before my astonished eyes.
I was fascinated by what was happening
and found myself by a tree,
everything was rapidly changing,
but I was still as I should be.
Day and night flashed by in a second,
the beginning of time was near.
Darkness filled everywhere around me
until the alarm made everything clear.
poem by Orlando Belo
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I have a hard time waking up. No alarm clock works! It sounds childish, but I seriously have my manager, my mom or a buddy of mine wake me up if I have to be somewhere. It's a serious issue! I've been very late for some serious gigs because of it!
quote by Jesse McCartney
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Can't Fall Asleep
My thoughts keep me up at night,
my tears put me to sleep,
my dreams wake me up,
after only an hour of sleep.
I can't rest no more,
I can't fall back to sleep,
so I lie in bed for hours at a time,
watching the clock as the time keeps going by.
I toss and I turn,
trying to find something comforable,
but when I'm almost asleep,
my thoughts wake me up again.
So I lay there thinking the thoughts,
that wont leave me alone.
I try time and time again,
but I cant fall back to sleep.
Finally I fall asleep,
but then i quickly hear a noise,
it is my alarm telling me to get up for the day ahead,
but it doesnt realize that I've been up all night.
Thinking, thinking of those thoughts that won't let me sleep.
So I quickly turn off the annoying buzzing noise,
and there I lay in my bed,
dreading the day ahead.
poem by Rebeckah Schroeder
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Work is a necessity for man. Man invented the alarm clock.
quote by Pablo Picasso
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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