Chimes sounded only once,
Then stopped forever.
Day after day, sunlight streams through glass gaps
Between red, crushed-velvet curtains
Illuminating motionless fingers of the face.
This is your life;
Your frozen grandfather in the corner
You Still-ness
Time has not passed:
Merely paused eternally
At one o'clock.
You are not forgotten.
Whispers of your wisdom remain.
Even now
You teach those precious few
Willing to stand silent in a corner
And listen.
Life is a
Temporal journey;
Constantly progressing,
But tiring.
So now you rest:
Never silent,
Forever Still.
Author's
note: Kirksville, Missouri is the birthplace of A. T. Still, known as
the founder of osteopathic medicine. This poem was written after a
visit to the A. T. Still Museum, located in the Kirksville College of
Osteopathic Medicine. The grandfather clock taken from Still's house
was stopped at one o'clock.