Clocks

Tyler Sunahara

High School Junior

February 2023

Tick Tick Tick

The world is flooded with light

The sound of bustling surrounds me

Enveloped in love and care, I close my eyes

As I drift off to sleep, I hear a distinct sound in the background

Tick Tick Tick

I leap, flying through the air

Sword in hand, I fight my sister

We laugh together, as I "cut off" her arms

If only I had never grown up, frozen in time forever

Tick Tick Tick

It's middle school, I'm all right

Time's passed fast, and I'm lacking glee

"You can be fantastic," my teachers advise

But I'm not ready to soar away from comfort and leave the ground

Tick Tick Tick

New school and I have a scare

Conversing is a tongue twister

It's a completely new setting filled with germs

I try to be vulnerable but fail my endless endeavor

Tick Tick Tick

I relax in bed tonight

Thinking about my future plea

What should I do? Is this life-changing choice wise?

And I hear that quiet, familiar, metronome sound all around

Tick Tick Tick

It's time for college, but where?

Lawyer or builder I whisper

"You do whatever you want," my mom confirms

Now I'm in college still uncertain about my life as ever

Tick Tick Tick

Tick Tick Tick

And I realize all my childhood is gone

How has the time slipped away?

Seems like just the other day

When I was out on the lawn

So innocent and unaware of shortness

That one day with my sister

My life is filled with twisters

And I accept the weirdness

Tick Tick Tick

Nothing will stop that tick

Until your eventual downfall

When the normal note ceases to call

And then it's never heard again, that's the kick

That quiet ticking sound

Plagues my short life as I realize

I can never slow it down, it flies

I can only make the best of what I've found

Tick Tick Tick

So I embrace the sound

And do everything I can

To live in the present

Since now I know

We are humans after all

And we don’t stay for long

Tick Tick Tick