Answer:
What gets wet while drying?
Halo of water, tongue of wood. Skin of stone, long I've stood. My fingers short reach to the sky. Inside my heart men live and die.
I count time, but have no end. Tick tick, but I am not a clock. What am I?
What's black when you get it, red when you use it, and white when you're all through with it?
What is often returned but is never borrowed?
A leathery snake, with a stinging bite. I'll stay coiled up, unless I must fight.