Chop The Day “Damn the wretch who first set a sundial in the marketplace And chopped my day into pieces” Plautus, playwright, 2BC Meticulous science subdividing time into billionth segments. Beyond our conscience Atomic clock – you split seconds so accurately your cesium atoms give in, form an erratic picket line in time protesting monotony and a meaningless pace. Ah, but the cathedral clock still winds up, stands stoic and knowing. Chronos, our stone-carved, obedient servant drags his old man’s feet to the weathered bell, strikes noon, or thereabouts, while trumpeting angels celebrate. A few hours a century a donation for its enduring beauty. Temporal millionaires amble to their daily reunion, gather in the village square, notice the sun’s rays stretch languid along the cobblestone lanes hear the clock strike marking meaningful hours. Reject the progress of grimy-jawed punch clocks, of digital watches cuffed to wrists; of alarm clocks. All distant, unwelcome cousins that fragment our days— the old man would turn over in his grave at irregular intervals. Cesium: vibrates thousands of times/second and is an element used in atomic clocks to measure time very precisely