I think,
it was the time between what now and what then.
I think,
I lost my precedence like my guitar pick
camouflaged under the leaves of my bed sheet.
It was there but it was hiding
from me.

You don’t know how to hold the chords yet
so how will you play the song.
It was teaching me
To take steps before I leap
To conclusions
But I thought,
I’ll just strum with my thumb.

My clumsy strumming
Slashed against the metallic ringing
My fingers, too young to press down hard enough
And the cavity in the body
amplified my mistakes -
A hollow rhythm of deceit,
Became the soundtrack to my life.
So I filled in every hole
with cement
And I did not pick it up,
and let the strings rust away
like an old memory…

Until you bought me my new guitar
This time,
I learnt how to play it,
The right way.
Filled the gaps in between with careful strumming.
This time,
I learnt how to hold the strings before
I jumped to any more conclusions.
I practiced through the hard parts,
Now I can sing when I play,
Coordinate my voice with my body
My mind is more seasoned.
My calloused fingers - a promise
That I can press as hard as I need to
To ensure that our song never plays out of tune.