How Long

sundial
a cockroach climbs
the monk’s shadow

The length of a human shadow can be used to measure time. On the assumption that a monk’s height is six times the length of his foot, the Venerable Bede constructed a table for estimating the time of day from the length of one’s shadow in feet.

Sundials often display mottoes inviting the observer to reflect on the transience of life as we know it in our world. These maxims are very hard to read at night.

The cockroach is thought to be nearly indestructible, and therefore capable of surviving a nuclear holocaust. 

clocks ticking
in a watchmaker’s shop
bees taking sweetness
from thyme

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