So Little Time

A poem about how timing is everything

They give you eighteen years
To learn “everything you need to know”
So you can decide what you want to do
For the next 47 years of your life.
Before you know it,
It’s time to retire.
Time, time, time.
That’s all anyone ever really thinks about.

Time is never on your side.
It’s always ticking at you
Like a nagging mother on an early school morning
Or an impatient teacher trying to provoke a student
To speak up and give an answer already.
Time is as annoying as that friend you have
Who never takes the hint when you kindly ask them
To go away.

Unfortunately for us, there’s only so little time for anything.
So little time to socialize,
So little time to stay in bed on freezing winter mornings,
So little time to enjoy anything while you still have it.

One year to accomplish something suddenly turns into
Six months, then turns into
Three months, then
One month
And then "oh! It’s the day before that big thing!
Better be ready for it!
When the truth is,
You’re not ready at all.

Time is a sneaky little b***h
Who wants nothing more than to tear you down
and watch you squirm and fidget
Like a helpless newborn.
It laughs and laughs at you because it knows that in the end,
It will always win.

No matter how much you race against the clock,
It will always win.
The saying is true.
“Time waits for no one.”

Author's Note

This is a poem I wrote at one point during my senior year when work was piling up, AP exam dates were creeping up on me, and I had no choice but to embrace time as it is.

Reviews

[Sleeping Maiden]

wow. I love your poem! Beautifully written. And yes i agree with time being it so short and it never waits. We move forward whether we like it or not. =) Great write!