Keeping Time - By Shivaanshi Patidar

Written By: Shivaanshi Patidar

Category: Poetry

Competition: Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Shivaanshi Patidar graces the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 with her evocative poem, "Keeping Time." Through the medium of poetry, Shivaanshi delves into the poignant themes of time, loss, and the intricate dance between memory and reality. As part of the esteemed competition hosted by Hashtag Kalakar, her work stands as a testament to the art of storytelling through verse.

About the Work

"Keeping Time" weaves a narrative rich with emotion and introspection, exploring the human endeavor to grasp and mend the intangible concept of time. Patidar's work speaks to the heart with its melancholic yet hopeful tone, employing vivid imagery and delicate language. The poem captures the essence of temporal fragility and the unyielding nature of memory, leaving readers with a contemplative reflection on permanence and impermanence.

Keeping Time

Original Submission by Shivaanshi Patidar

Keeping Time

People brought me

their broken time.

A watch

that stopped

beside a hospital bed.

A grandfather clock

that had forgotten

the sound of morning.

A pocket watch

passed through generations,

its hands frozen

between two memories.

They placed them

on my wooden table

and I listened.

Every clock

had a language.

A broken spring

was a whisper.

A missing gear

was a hesitation.

A silent hand

was a heart

waiting

to beat again.

I spent my life

repairing what time had damaged.

And people began to believe

I understood time itself.

They called me

a magician.

A man who could

hold hours

between his fingers.

They asked me

to make old clocks

young again.

To return watches

to their first heartbeat.

To make yesterday

look less distant.

I never corrected them.

Perhaps because

I wanted to believe it too.

Perhaps because

after years

of fixing broken things,

I had forgotten

that some things

were never broken.

Some things

were simply gone.

My daughter

used to sit beside me

while I worked.

She would watch

the tiny pieces

scattered across my desk

and ask,

"How do you know

where everything belongs?"

I would smile

and tell her,

"Everything has a place.

You only need

to be patient enough

to find it."

She believed me.

Children often believe

the things

adults are most afraid

might not be true.

Years passed.

The clocks kept moving.

The world kept asking

me to repair it.

Until one winter morning,

the chair beside my desk

remained empty.

No footsteps.

No questions.

No small hands

reaching toward

the pieces of my work.

And for the first time

in my life,

I had something

I could not mend.

I opened every clock

in my shop.

I replaced every spring.

Polished every gear.

Adjusted every hand.

I begged time

to return

one single moment.

One conversation.

One goodbye.

One ordinary morning

I did not know

I would spend forever

missing.

But clocks are honest things.

They move forward

even when the people

holding them

cannot.

That was when I learned

the difference

between measuring time

and keeping it.

A clock can tell you

how long someone

has been gone.

It cannot bring them back.

It can count

the years after a goodbye.

It cannot return

the moment before.

For decades,

people brought me

their broken clocks.

They thought

I was repairing time.

But I was only repairing

the little machines

that tried

to follow it.

Because time was never

inside the clock.

It was inside

the hands that held it.

The voices that filled it.

The moments that passed

through it

without asking

to be remembered.

Now,

my shop is quieter.

The clocks still tick.

The hands still move.

The world still insists

on becoming tomorrow.

And sometimes,

when the sun falls

across my old wooden table,

I almost hear her voice.

I almost turn around.

I almost reach

for my tools.

Then I remember.

There are broken things

that can be repaired.

And there are beautiful things

that were never meant

to be kept.

About the Competition

The Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a prestigious platform celebrating the voices of emerging and established writers. This year’s event showcases a remarkable array of talents, offering participants an opportunity to share their unique narratives and artistic expressions with a global audience.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Shivaanshi Patidar for her poignant contribution, "Keeping Time," in the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Her work beautifully captures the delicate interplay between memory and time, enriching the tapestry of this year's competition.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.