Epiklepsiphydrakion (A Clock-Stopping Song)

Abstract:

Eh-Peh-Klep-Si-Fi-Dra-Ki-On. This poem exists both here and on a future Mars, where humans maintain their circadian rhythms by living with 24 hour timekeeping, as on Earth. To account for the extra 39 minutes or so each day, the 24 hour clock is simply stopped each day at 18 local solar time at the prime meridian, providing a daily pause to a culture in which every other minute of the day must be precisely scheduled. For legal and practical reasons, the time of the pause is kept and assigned to its sol but remains always separate from normative time. Because this pause is the only available time for creative expression on Mars, Martian poetry is entirely centered around the genre of the clock-stopping song, which has as many names and forms as the cultural origins of those who explore Mars. But one common feature is "the seed": a starting place for the poem that often refers to fundamental questions raised by stopping time.

The seed of this poem is "The unheard sounds came through, and each melodic line existed of itself, stood out clearly from all the rest, said its peace, and waited patiently for the other voices to speak"--Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man