1 May 2012
Here it is, the stopwatch, Grandad said to me
Been passed down throughout the years
Made in 1863
Thank you very much but
What exactly does it do?
He looked at me with a sly grin -
It will stop time for you
Saying "STOP" will cease all time
But only for a minute
Everything, everywhere
And all the people in it
Except the wearer, you will find
That you can move about
Make sure you do what you gotta do
Before your time runs out
You get two tries, to seize, to hoard
Whatever you can amass
Upon third go, you need to know
That fifty years must pass
I took the stopwatch from him
And Grandad I did thank
Then wasted no more of my time
Went directly to the bank
I shouted "STOP", lo and behold
Time had now stood still
But I only had a minute
So I raided half the tills
I ran over to the marketplace
And took cover by a stall
Then everything sprang back to life
As if nothing had happened at all
So I did it again, got more, but then
I remembered what Grandad said
Thought this time I'll do things right
Let's put the stopwatch to bed
Then from somewhere in the market
I could hear a radio's sound
Some tinpot despot had flicked his switch
And missiles were London bound
I looked to the sky and sure enough
A mortal fear arose
They seemed to be pointing straight at me
I could see the weapons nose
So for the third and final time
I took out Grandad's stopwatch
And I shouted "STOP"...
Stopwatch • Opuss № I