Plagued by time* is the most apt description of man
Not enough time
A drowning consciousness in the sea of activities
Not enough time
The mind with a growing number of disabilities
Not enough time
To do anything in a twenty-four hour day
The grandfather clock cannot stop
Even though its mahogany treads are screaming
"NO MORE"
Only to be drowned out by the golden bells
Whispering
"Tik tok...
Tik tok...
Ding. Ding. Ding."

In bed by eight and then storytime
Lots of time
Just enough time and a short enough memory to know there was a tomorrow
Just enough time and a short enough memory to not understand aging
Until I had plucked all the hairs off my chinny chin chin
And discovered if the big bad wolf was real that he lived inside of me
He ate my years
My dad's pocketwatch was in sync with the grandfather clock
Its tiny hands resonating louder than
The protesting silver cogs
The screaming mahogany treads
"Tik tok...
Tik tok...
Ding. Ding."

Now is the time I am old
Old as I've ever been, young as I'll ever be
My activities are done
And my body has left me with nothing to do
Too much time
Oh, how I would trade all my minutes now
In exchange for minutes then
To climb with Jack once more up the beanstalk
Or braid Rapunzel's hair again
Now is the time that I am old
And my time has passed
Only to be collected in the wrinkles of my skin
Or gleam of my colorless hair
Somehow inside of my alarm clock I still know the existence of
The screaming mahogany treads
The protesting silver cogs
Now accompanied by the crying red numbers on the screen
But louder than all of their rustling is
"Tik tok...
Tik tok...
Ding."

All is gone
I can only see darkness
And my mind's projection of the silouettes of my hands
The grandfather clock is broken
No repairman came knocking on my door
Nor did my house tell me it needed fixing
Soon the dust gathered on the golden bells
And the mahogany fell silent
The silver cogs were equally as inaudiable
The glowing numbers didn't shine anymore
Man, the only creature plagued by time
So accustomed to our sickness
I can still hear, in the back of my mind,
"Tik tok...
Tik tok...
- - -."