Just Before Zero

6am. Wake up. Horror.

Brush teeth, freshen face.

Doubt belief. Straighten faith.

Just have to get on with it.

It's got to be done.

Check the time: 0609.

Shower? Rush.

No time. Bus.

Dress. To kill.

Dying to eat.

Breakfast. Tea.

Look. Don't see.

Function body.

Focus mind. 0639.

Don't think! Don't think!

Just stay in line.

In a mere half an hour

More worry lines growing.

And two more years of your age

is showing. Then 0648.

You better get going!

Got everything? Check.

And an aching neck.

Forget it. It's old.

Just have to get on with it.

It's got to be done.

Outside there's no sun

though the day has begun.

It's 0654. God! Open the door!

Six minutes. Check. I'm cutting it fine.

One last look around. One final time.

At all that is mine.

I really must go.

The clock on the wall

-I wish it wasn't so-

Marks my heart, ticks its beat.

I'm a watch-maker's meat.

I wish it meant nothing.

And I wish I could stay.

Sit all day at the table

staring into its face.

Relaxed by its movement.

Following its trace.

Careless and carefree.

No debt or cold sweat.

No morning or evening.

No deadline, no fretting. 

No fetching or getting.

No want and no need.

I will never be freed!

I'm a victim, a seed

of someone else's greed.

A fat man with a bomb

from a movie long-gone.

I'm the nick-of-time hero

and just before zero

I snip the right wire

Get the girl I desire

Save the world from destruction.

I'm a pawn of construction.

The champion of the system.

A man with Its mission.

The show must go on.

Just have to get on with it.

It's got to be done.

Work. Factory. Office.

Metropolis. Necropolis.

Clock watches.

Hands. Faces.

Check gauges.

Chain-gang of Ages.

Pressure. Raises.

Day-dreaming. Time? 0709!

For The Grand Design

from which one day I'll die

I'm destined to be late.

It was always my fate.

Reviews

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

You always come up with something new and so very fresh..This was very very fast paced,the reader was with you all along.No one holds the attention with their words as you do,you have such a skilled grip on your words and such finesse..from the starting till the end.
We are such vulnerable victims of time and our demanding lifestyle that even we don't realize how we have become so..This seemed more to me like a Monday..oh but then i have a special dislike for em days but yes the way you begin..Doubt belief. Straighten faith.
Just have to get on with it.
It's got to be done...this reminds me of my Monday morning reassurance rambling to myself.Then again..More worry lines growing.
And two more years of your age
is showing...oh how i love this phrase as it leaps on to 6.48..I like the poem more when it begins with 'mark my heart,ticks its beat'.'.I'm a watchmaker's meat' is such an exquisite phrase.I just love how it sounds and how it contains so much in that phrase.We all are watchmaker's meat..unabashedly so, :)...Though this poem has so so many phrases which are so very well written i want to repeat this stanza,
I wish it meant nothing.
And I wish I could stay.
Sit all day at the table
staring into its face.
Relaxed by its movement.
Following its trace.
Careless and carefree.
No debt or cold sweat...I couldn't take my eyes off these words in specific.I read them so many times.How many times have I wished so..just how many times.I just like the idea of being relaxed by the way the clock works,to trace its hands.It is just amazing to think how 'careless' and 'carefree'..are such guilt words these days,and all cause of an accustomed coerced thinking.Oh 'metropolis,necropolis'..such contradictory twin words..:)
Thank you for always bringing up something new and brilliant.

[Amit Parmessur]

Hello friend, you do write well. I suggest you have a look at this message. I genuinely think you can submit something to us, as an encouragement to your good writing.

----------------------------
The second issue of Golden Apple is now open to submissions. It will be solely based on Christmas and New Year. Poems, short stories (not more than 1200 words), sketches, song lyrics and flash fiction on the proposed theme of Christmas and New Year are most welcome. We want to create some real magic for this year’s December and are working hard on the best possible way to present our contributors’ writings for this issue.

Do have a look at our general guidelines before you submit anything:

http://goldenappleezine.blogspot.com/2010/10/submissions.html

Do enjoy the first issue as well:

http://goldenappleezine.blogspot.com/2010/10/golden-apple-issue-1-october-2010.html

Regards,
Golden Apple Team

[alesuriko]

Absolutely beautifully written. This is truly a brilliant read. I love how you brought a whole new originality to the cliches lines used to form this poem. Such a good philosophical use of time in this one concerning the new social norms that we're expected to follow. Be without identity, follow the set times, do what you're commanded to do, fit in, don't falter, don't have any defining characteristics, don't be late, don't do anything to alter from the path we've set for you because this is how life should be and this is how you'll live it. God I hate the corporation. This is such a wonderful statement on society and how we pretty much live on a conveyor belt, trapped and reformatted to their liking.

[Robin]

I was a newspaper pressman for fifteen years , up to seven deadlines a day , every minute lost was felt through out the day . seems we were always waiting on editorial ...

excellent composition ..

[JENY]

Wow…
A great philosophy about…life..
Nicely packed in apt choice of words…
And their arrangements…
Excellent work…

[Miss Coral]

Great piece... the tone and cadence were perfect for the subject.
Excellent job on that. Nice characterization.. I too hate the standards of society, and how much we have to follow the strict rules of time.

The reason I happened upon this was seeing it in a group... the picture you have is of the Astrological Clock.. in Prague. Where I live. :D

[~~~~~]

Somehow my last review disappeared. Sorry. The title is what drew me in. This is what true writing is: originality, unafraid to take risks. I love the subtle rhythm. A view into the mental rat race so to speak.

[Katie Louise Hughes]

This was very entertaining to read; I enjoyed it very much. It's like a free flow of your thoughts of the day. Although, I'm sure there is much depth added to this other than random words, all I can say is that there is a lot of truth to the feeling you expressed within this poem. Time... it's always on my mind. Time... it's just left for us to find. Anyways, lol, I can feel your pain in being chained to time. Thanks for the read, and keep up the writing! :D
(I enjoyed the ending the most, - "For The Grand Design
from which one day I'll die
I'm destined to be late.
It was always my fate.")

[Ry]

This poem reminds me of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I've not read nor seen Alice in Wonderland, but while reading this poem, I heard "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date" ringing in my head from the previews I saw on the Lion King VHS when I was younger. Very realistic and fast paced. I love to see stanzas made out of things from everyday life. =) -Eli