The conceptual metaphor of time is one of the most prominent cognitive mechanisms that reshapes abstract concepts into tangible linguistic structures, mirroring human experiences and activating language as a philosophical tool for generating meaning and intensifying emotion. Time, as an immaterial concept, cannot be directly perceived through the senses; instead, it is restructured through cognitive projections grounded in concrete experiential domains, which lend it an existential quality that is both imaginable and interactive. Based on this theoretical framework—and considering the notable density of conceptual metaphors of time in Nazik Al-Malaika’s poem " Marthiyyat Yawm Tafeh"—this study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach focused on uncovering the projective structure of these metaphors and deconstructing their cognitive patterns. It seeks to answer two central questions: How is time reshaped through conceptual metaphors in this poem? And what cognitive and existential functions do these metaphors serve within the poetic discourse? The findings reveal the presence of three central metaphorical structures: time as a thing, time as a place, and time as a direction. Time is portrayed alternately as a scarce resource subject to loss or investment, as a spatial domain enabling emotional reordering of events, and as an unstoppable dynamic path expressing existential determinism. This metaphorical synthesis reconstructs time not as a chronological concept, but as an active entity with position and influence, directly shaping the self’s identity and destiny. Consequently, the poem acquires a dense ontological character, reinforcing language as a generative system of meaning and existence.