Only Time Can Tell Poem by David Harris

Just when you think something
has nothing more to give
it surprises you with a little bit more.
Forty-five years ago,
I wrote something at a fun fare
and it keeps coming back
with something exciting and new.
First, it became my best-loved poem
with over fifty-five people
making it one of their favourites.
Next, it was used in an English class
in a London college,
then it had a video make of it
and then incorporated into a symphony,
it was read out at a memorial service
for an American serviceman in Afghanistan.
Another surprise came when
it was translated into Russian
for a University in the Ukraine
and then yesterday I found
it had been turned into a country song,
which really made my day,
something I had always imagined it to be,
and the tune they used was similar
to what I envisaged when I wrote it
all those years ago.
I cannot even guess what more surprises
this piece holds in store,
only time can tell.



28 July 2011