Atop this massive cone of silent and relentless purpose is ensconced a stone, fully the height of five storeys of an office block, engraved with just ten markings, rotating imperceptibly slowly. One of the behemoth markings, denoting seven, is poised above what is apparently the front of this gargantuan monument.

One is reminded of a volcano, though this is steeper than any volcano, featureless but for its coterie of arcane and instantly recognisable symbols.

Immediately beneath that stone rotates another, impervious to the elements, engraved with twelve massive numbers, enumerating one through twelve. The symbol twelve is foremost at this time, aligned perfectly with the seven on an even larger rotating disc beneath it. A lengthy walk, to circumnavigate this imposing and purposeful, perfectly symmetrical miniature mountain, reveals there are no fewer than thirty-one patterns of symbols on that disc, exactly seven more than the one below it, which itself towers more than one hundred feet above the casual passer-by.

The penultimate disc is easier to read, though it is moving quickly, sixty unique digital markings on it passing by one's gaze in just an hour of our worldly measure.

The lowest and last disc slips by at a human level, sternly regarding us from no more than the height of eight tall adults, also depicting sixty separate gradations. Within just one minute of my quotidian wonderment I realise I am seeing the sequence pass by me again on this disc, which fits so neatly to the flat surface of the plaza below it that one could scarcely pass a razorblade twixt its underside and the plane upon which one stands. I lean against it, only to be gently rebuffed and forced away from this moving wall by its movement.

Silently, it goes about its unceasing work. A seemingly natural but perfectly straight rill of water, mirror smooth, glissades across the plaza, creating a naturally reflective sighting point, along which one cannot help but seek to align the symbols above, if only to establish for oneself a touchstone of stability in the endless stream; a stream comprised entirely of the irrevocable, inexorable passage of our most precious commodity... time.