Stared at a clock today
it was broken
it ticked slower and slower
until it's time seemed to be frozen
Even in it's current state
It would be right twice a day
* I was reminded of lie I was once told
it had left me broken, bitter
battered and cold
But even this lie would've been made true
if it was left to sit unfixed
and I let those emotions brew
I stared at the clock, unimpressed
the clock had stopped,
twelve o'clock it read
but I knew that it was taunting, teasing
and I believed what it said
*There, I stood, alone and naked
debating with myself if I stood
broken and forsaken
or if this was the start of the new
the beginning of the path less taken
for whichever I stood to believe, this I knew
where I stood then, that was the catalyst
and where I will be next can't be presumed
but for this moment, this second in time
is the only time it will be my center, my middle
my noon
And with a taunting tick, this clock
began to move again
tock, tick; tick, tock
and without a show of face
I stared in surprise
the clock began to run backward
began to mock
Turning back time
seconds, hours
whispering, shimmering
tempting with the ability to rewind
time
* ...and her face began to focus in my thoughts
the ringing in my ears became clear
became screaming
and the pain I had wrought faded
and the scars done to me dissipated
just for a second, I was watching myself
holding her, touching her, * despising her
...and I awake alone
sweating
yearning
scars burning
stomach turning
*And down the hall the clock can be heard with it's ominous, taunting tick-tock ticking into *
*oblivion
(AIP)