Measurement
by May Miller
A thin repeated note
Strikes against
The tuning fork of time
To mark man's encroachment
On the God-threatened way;
To set the hour
Of his uncertain final step.
Choose an ancient scheme—
The fractional-lengthening shadow
On the unscarred dial;
The way is none the less short.
The tune begins again.
First published in Poetry (December 1948).