I watch the clock move backward,

Minutes go by in the blink of an eye,

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

There goes life.

 

While time slows,

I pick up my pace.

Another year to go,

Another day in the race.

Fill out the forms,

Keep up your grades,

Earn all the right scores,

Go to work, there's money to be made.

 

But between running from school,

To house,

To job,

To rehearsal site,

To his dorm two hours away,

And home again,

Between studying for the next big test,

And all the rest,

I make sure to set aside

Some well-worn time,

To do what I love,

And make something truly mine.

 

Pencil to paper,

Draw the silhouettes

And shade the interior,

Black, white, and grey

Connected in graphite nets.

 

Guitar in my hands,

Play one flimsy chord,

Try again and watch where my finger lands,

Learning to play, I can't be bored.

 

Sing my heart out,

Feel my body tremble,

Under stage lights, dissolving my doubt,

You be the bass, I'll be the treble.

 

Nothing can knock me down,

No workload can break me.

My strength will stave off a frown,

And my art will sustain me.