9:59 was a heartbeat
A half breath in a thunderstorm of seconds
He was the whisper before the scream
The hush before the applause
A lover... that the world forgot
but see time... time never dared to ignore
Waiting calmly for 10 o’clock
To feel her click... to hear her knock
To whisper soft with gentle grin
“Come close, my love... let time begin”
But 10:00… oh; she never came
She chased the world; adored the fame
A golden hour; dressed in pride
Yet left his steady hands denied.
To her...
9:59 was the almost...
A blemish...
A name unworthy of inscription in her scrolls of becoming
She mistook proximity for poverty
Kindness for cling
Loyalty for lack
He stood still
At the edge of forever
Watching her shadow in the minute ahead
10 o’clock
Queen of symmetry
Darling of digits
Precise Pristine
Always on time.... but never for him
He stood there broken
While she danced with 10:05
Flirted with 10:15
Swooned for 10:50
all the futures...
never the foundation
He watched her click for the 10:01s
The 10:10s; 10:59s…
Everyone who came after
Everyone who came greater
And maybe... just maybe
that’s why he was never enough
9:59 was a minute shy
Of being seen beneath her sky
A tender tick; a quiet song
That waited faithfully too long
He opened doors she wandered through
Yet she loved ones who never knew
Of all the time he kept for her
Of all the ways he'd never err
She sought the sparkle of 10:01
And swayed to noon beneath the sun
Chasing hours with brighter hues
Forgetting who lit up her fuse
He was 9:59
Not 10
Not round..
Not whole..
Not perfect
But he was the door...
The key
The minute that opened the moment
That lit the light...
That gave her name...
a place to exist
Still..
She looked past him
Always
Forever chasing the hourglass gods
Plus the sharp lines and golden ticks
And he...
He stood there
every day
every clock
every loop
Hoping for her
But never walked through with
He was the almost-lover
The breath before the kiss
The "just one more minute"...
You never give
Yet he loved her
Madly... Quietly
With all the time he wasn’t allowed
But time don’t bend for broken hearts
Clocks don’t tick for unspoken parts
And love?
Sometimes it’s just…
a minute short