#deadlines
i want to be able
to turn things in on time
and not wait until last minute
but my problem
is that i procrastinate on everything
which is why i'm writing this poem
now
instead of working on homework
Mar 2, 2021
Mar 2, 2021 at 9:25 PM UTC
The deadline monsters
Kept pounding on the door of my consciousness
Their frantic, banging fists
Threaten to reduce me
to a paralytic heap
of nothing but flesh and bones
I can hear the horrible noises
of splintering wood
Fractured humerus
The unnerving thwack
of a body
As it flung itself against
my defenses.
And yet I sit here
Serene, unperturbed
A posture of sheer pretentiousness
Ignoring the violent growls
of the monsters
In my head.
With glazed eyes
And absent-minded numbness
I watch Neflix.
Sep 26, 2020
Sep 26, 2020 at 10:19 PM UTC
hard facade
soft edges
blurred depressions
precipitous slopes
fragile points of origin
no shape
a heavy space
dappling of light
eyes a fusion into the mind
a focus approaches
my forehead meets my finger tips
thumbs caress my ears
nose peeks out for air
tension builds across my neck
the day is bestirring
a haunting commences
the stirring street clamours
my feet embrace the floor
the bathroom draws me near
the bus door shushes close
my hand finds a bar to hold
an unanswered welcoming smile in the crowd
the window fog of mortal breath
ting, my inescapable stop
my watch prompts me to toil
the briefcase opens amongst discarded papers
lunch makes it to the drawer
password…. needs changing
emails overflow the inbox
an empty outbox
unpaid demands
crossed out scribbles
a match of a pencil
smell of an unlaundered shirt
the clamour of the phone
a deadline agreed
the digital clock hoots in red at my predicament
the editor hot, the ink is cold
lame excuses unworthy of air
time to recant
elbows take my weight as I bow
pray-full fingers encamp on my face
eyelids close
here a place for shapes of my imagination
Aug 9, 2020
Aug 9, 2020 at 7:29 AM UTC
Assignment after assignment
10, no 12, for math
2 lessons for English
2 movies and a sheet of questions for each for journalism
1 weekly question and 1 lesson for biology
A lesson and questions about textbook pages for Spanish
A workout log for P.E.
1 nonfiction piece and 10-15 poems for creative writing
All due when?
By the end of the week for math
By the end of the week for English
By the end of the week for journalism
By the end of the week for biology
By the end of the week for Spanish
By yesterday for the nonfiction piece for Creative Writing
And who knows when for those poems for Creative writing
Get the grades up
Get the grades up
No matter what the cost
No matter what the pain
And get the chores done
At least 4 a day
Write down everything you do along the line
Timecards, what's next?
Shower, time it just right
Work around the other people
Don't mess around
Waste away
Obey
Get the grades up
Get the grades up
No matter what
Don't be dreamy and strut
Smack you to the ground
Get down from the clouds
Back to reality
Straight As only
Nothing less
Everything more
Or who knows what's going out the door
Maybe something you love
Maybe your sanity
Get the grades up
Keep your head up
Don't slip up
Keep your head up
Smile on, smiles on!
Don't argue, they always win
It creeps beneath your skin
Make it stay there
Bite your tongue
Until it bleeds
No matter what the cost
Remember?
It's all in your head, of course,
Besides the grades,
THOSE ARE REAL
There's no making a deal
Get the grades up
Get the grades up
Straight As and nothing less
Nothing left either, until you're a horrid mess
Just Scattered.
- Jay M
May 6th, 2020
May 6, 2020
May 6, 2020 at 10:36 PM UTC
close your eyes
and feel the sea
watch the water
turn blue, green and teal,
let the wind take the lead,
breathe in the sun,
don’t let your sins bleed,
exhale out all the deadlines,
and shine.
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019 at 4:36 AM UTC
At a certain
point in our lives
There's no more
"free time"
The closest thing
would be
periods
of
inactivity
procrastination
Or only long term deadlines
remaining
We may
have "breaks"
But even if it takes a
stop
...
We're still on the train
of life
Chugging away
Oct 3, 2018
Oct 3, 2018 at 12:45 PM UTC
They say it is the most painful way to die,
but i think it's the most excruciating way to live.
These files, these emotions, these people, temptations and Lord knows what else.
They drown you alive.
May 18, 2018
May 18, 2018 at 7:22 AM UTC
Just push through it
Push through it it
It’ll be over soon
Can’t wait for the end
I’m gonna be done soon
Push through
****
Wait
No
Go back
I’m not ready
I don’t have time
Enough time
For
Everything
I can’t
So mucvh to do
Why does time
Always
Do this
?
Slip awa y
Evaede me
.
I can t
Kee
P
Uup
i
Was
N’tt
R
E
Ad
Y
Feb 27, 2018
Feb 27, 2018 at 9:42 PM UTC
It‘s not what we ought,
Never was it sought,
To bring out a thought,
That you would get caught,
By the hands that fought,
In the night and fog,
On sunny days - drought.
Then you get knocked out,
Coffee in the mouth,
Then a single froth,
It’s caffeine.
An overdose.
You’re dead.
Dec 10, 2017
Dec 10, 2017 at 12:51 AM UTC
My life is beginning
to feel like
a patchwork quilt
of deadlines
and tasks.
Even doing nothing
has started to seem
like something to do,
just another thing
to check off my
list,
with a certain amount
of time allotted for it,
and a clear time
to move on to
the next thing,
lest I fall behind.
Weeks,
days,
sometimes even
hours
are divided
and categorized
by what I should be
doing
in them.
I don't allow
any passion projects
too engrossing
or time-consuming
for fear of
losing
myself
in
it
and forgetting my responsibilities.
All I can think
when my heart
nudges me to
read a book
or
write a story
is that I have
no time,
no time,
no time
for such things,
and that I must be
conscientious before, and over, content.
Jul 1, 2017
Jul 1, 2017 at 8:16 AM UTC
“Deep breaths”
That’s what I tell myself
Every morning when yet another day has slipped from me.
The cacophony of the day slams into my body
The moment I open my eyes.
The bewilderment enters my heart the moment sleep leaves my body,
As I realize yet again that my clock is ticking
And nothing has been finished.
Tests have yet to be taken
Jobs have yet to be accepted
Homes have yet to acknowledge our existence.
I cant help but feel the shore line slip from under my feet,
Exposing such pretty distractions of shells and ocean life,
Only to have a wave building in mass and volume
To roar over me in a tsunami.
Covering me,
Swirling me in endless vortexes of deadlines
Pushing the air out of me.
Only releasing me every night feeling dizzy, tired,
And not prepared to do it all again tomorrow.
-ALC May 11, 2017
May 12, 2017
May 12, 2017 at 12:56 AM UTC
she writes and writes,
notebook paper fluttering like delicate feathers.
she writes like there is a famine of words
and she is starving.
she leans over the desk,
her back curving like a fern, tap tap tap
on the keyboard all day long
and into the night
May 11, 2017
May 11, 2017 at 2:40 PM UTC
At blank pages I
Stare in awe in reverence from
Which heights did you Fall?
Mar 2, 2016
Mar 2, 2016 at 7:55 PM UTC
Deadlines fast approaching,
Fingers typing,
Keyboard smoking.
Brain is a jumbled mess,
Getting stressed,
Can't perform my best.
Aug 17, 2015
Aug 17, 2015 at 11:02 AM UTC
I thought it was okay
For me to make it to the last minute
And there you were waiting for me
I took slow breaths before approaching you
But I felt too afraid to come
I backed out
The next day you were gone
I had no idea where you went
Maybe I do
And it's somewhere away from me
I smiled sadly at the decision I made
I should've come yesterday
I shouldn't have been afraid
I should've told you how I felt
You told me to go by then
And yet I failed to
I'll never be able for this again
I'm just a coward waiting for the consequences
Jul 28, 2015
Jul 28, 2015 at 7:47 AM UTC
Late for work.
That annoying person.
Errands, here and there.
Chaos.
Temperance.
Pressure...more pressure.
My head is spinning
Deadlines and challenges.
I want to give up.
I step outside to run from it all.
I am still seething with anger.
Silence.
Then I see your face.
Your hand in mine.
And everything just fade into the dark.
My sanctuary.
Oct 10, 2014
Oct 10, 2014 at 7:02 AM UTC
I slip under with a cry
and am lost to the depths,
sinking ever deeper
into the blue
as though bound by
ball and chain
What I pass on my way down
is not glittering schools
of fish
or the benevolent
sea turtle,
but a circling, snarling
mob of responsibilities,
a sight more menacing
than even
the most cadaverous
shark
Mar 28, 2014
Mar 28, 2014 at 10:04 PM UTC