You count to three
the longest passing of time you have ever witnessed
and then you breathe, a hand outstretched as though to catch the oxygen
and there's a stillness in the air, in fact there may not be anything
just the longest passing of time
and you're conspiring against the hands on the clock
that hold you down for the greater good
they tell you it's for the greater good
but you know that your skin should not heave this way
as each second reaps another day from your grasp
but the days were never really yours to hold
nothing belongs to you and nothing longs to be held by you
and you're a burning lighthouse on the coast
but no one needs you to work the way you should for them to see
so they let you burn down to your knees
and you listen for the ticking of your time bomb
but you can't hear it any more over the ticking of your time
and you will burn down to the ground but time will continue ticking
because it was never really yours to hold
you burn down to the ground
as you count to three