- Three O'Clock Her Time: : Humour Poem by Alessandra Liverani

I was told to ring tomorrow at 3 o’clock her time
In the land where Big Ben is famous for its chime
A simple calculation, should not cause consternation
Involving a simple primary school addition operation

On the eastern shores of this southern land
I just had to add nine hours to the clock's big hand
Using modulus twenty four, the number of hours in a day
If I'm counting using fingers, well I'd rather not say

Which makes it midnight the next night at our longitude
This simple sum did not take me long to conclude
But then I remembered, and my hands began to tremble
Daylight saving was about to start, and my arithmetic to dissemble

Tonight our clocks were moving forward an hour or was it back?
And their clocks by one hour would take the opposite tack
Once so clear, dark clouds were forming on the horizon
A computation which would have even Einstein extremely frightened

If you think you will find the answer in this rhyme
I'm sorry but I don't tally up in daylight savings time

(Sydney, Australia 2010)