MERCY, PRAY MERCY by Jack Phillips Lowe

Mercy, pray mercy,
the recognition of age—
the one constant in life.

It rules each aspect of our hours.
it governs the how, the when
and the why of our days.

It even regulates our sleep—
“Hey, it’s eleven o’ clock!
I’ve got to get to bed!”
It dictates how long 
we rest and recharge our batteries,
so we can rise and run 
time’s course again. 

Then, there’s the dream 
of throwing the clock away,
of burning time by choice alone.
But the unemployed and 
the retired know that this dream 
is a nightmare disguised. 
It’s the terror of a pen in hand, 
a blank page before us
and the nagging question—
“What next? What next?”

And there is no soothing settlement.
We rue the demanding schedule,
then mourn the structure once it's gone.
The clock permits no compromise.

And to think we did this to ourselves—

the Lord’s one animal 
that measures the passage of days.
It’s the gift that’s really a curse. 
Mercy, pray mercy,
the recognition of age.   

 

Jack Phillips Lowe was born, raised and still resides in the Chicago area. Lowe has contributed poems and short stories to Piker Press, Cajun Mutt Press, Synchronized Chaos and Cold Rambler, among other outlets. Lowe's most recent chapbook, Brautigan's Blue Moon (Instant Oblivion Press, 2025), is available from lulu.com.  

  

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