I Keep the Time

i keep the time

from slipping

by pouring it away.

pouring it into the kitchen sink

where it sluices

between coffee grinds and egg shells

it’s all rushing away anyways

i am four five seven eight eleven thirteen sixteen sixteen sixteen

a rush of birthday candles

‘what do you want to be’, they asked

and i had no answers for them

‘an artist?’

i am a child

for whom time is swirling too fast

and my mind is whirring too slow.

so i keep the time from slipping

by pouring it away.

because maybe if i push it away

it’ll come back to me

like everything i’ve never found.

 

 

Lauren is a senior at Avon Grove High School. In addition to writing, she enjoys piano, violin, and drawing.