To me, time is running out and I don’t know why
The sunset is a stroke of lilac against the gray-blue sky
Everything I do gives me déjà vu

Time is running out and I don’t know why
Even while I complain about the lack of energy in my hometown,
Cars still speed by intersections
Neon lights flash, plastic bags tumble and tumble,
Our own version of desert tumbleweeds
Look at how they pick up cigarette stubs and flyers as it rolls down the street

Time is running out and I don’t know why
I’m walking too slow
What about by car?
The only thing I know how to do in front of the steering wheel is slow, ninety degree left turns
Steady, one hand over the other. Nice.

Time is running out and I don’t know why
It doesn’t leak slowly like sand in an hourglass
It starts slow and then gets faster and faster
What’s the word? Exponential
Now, the sand is being forced out of its tiny waist, spewing everywhere onto the table
Day and night and day and and day and night and day and night are all the same
Until I’m waking up at nine on a Saturday morning, maybe ten on a Sunday
Then repeat, repeat, repeat

I suppose school is part of it
The structure is nice until maybe the third week of school
But the numbers
They're the absolute worse
There are so many ways to use numbers, so many sets
Some start at 200 and go to 800, some from 1 to 5, some from 1 to 36
How many more sets will there be in twenty years?
The horrors are limitless

There’s a cute water tower in the distance and I long to climb it
I’m bad at guesstimating so I won’t bother with numbers
But it’s tall, sturdy
Guarding over its land while its ladder is spotless
No footprints, no markings

How would the cars appear from above?
Would they be as small as ants? Would they scuttle to and from their destinations?
The people certainly would.

Do the clouds appear to drift slower up there than they do down here?
With air so pristine, I doubt they’d be in much of a hurry
A leisurely stroll sounds nice

But wait, what if I fall while climbing the ladder?
I don’t see a tether
How hard would the impact be?
Acceleration is 32 m/s^2, but what’s the force?
Someone hand me a calculator
Nevermind I don’t need it
My stomach will be swirling faster than the kitchen blender

Somehow there are those who can stop time.
They do so much and we all only have 24 hours in a day
They’re the inventors, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, leaders,
The messiahs of our century
I wish I knew how they did it
I’ll admit it: I envy them

Time is running out and I don’t know why
I know I’ll leave little behind if anything
I’ll never be like the saviors, they’re the four-leafed clovers in a field of dandelions
I’m a girl of contradictions;
Wanting to leave but reluctant to quit the game
Because it's all I've known