Floating In Deep Blue

Inspired by 

I Only Wear Blue by Dr. Dog.

"When you can’t be yourself

There’s just too much to be

Let’s get on with it,

We haven’t got too much time.

And I don’t want to stay here,

Where the sun don’t ever shine.

So say the word, and open up the blinds."

           

All these years we’ve lectured

Each other

About what’s right

And what’s wrong.

Lectured ourselves

About futures,

About cashing it in,

About being the best we can possibly be.

But now that talk means nothing.

Now we’re growing up, 

growing old,

and Time is picking up its pace.

We haven’t got a second

To spend on morals and plans.

We’ve got to live faster than the

Arms on that clock can spin.

Leaden arms circling around,

Marking the days so elegantly.

So painfully.

They sit in the corner,

Two fractions

Of a part.

Hindered by lectures,

Lessons and guidelines.

They’re two fractions

Of a masterpiece.

Puzzle pieces that

Hardly reveal the

Entire picture.

But they try their best

To fill in the gaps.

To be enough for

Themselves.

To be enough

For each other.

She gets anxious

As the days pass,

Because she knows

Time is shortening.

She can feel the tension.

What happens

If we don’t make it?

What happens

If we are wrong,

And have done wrong,

And have been wronged?

Who can save us from

The reality of that end,

Which lurks somewhere

Not too far in the distance?

What happens
If we play by those rules,

If we get sucked into the tide?

If we let time win?

Everything that can

Tear them apart,

Will tear them apart.

They will be torn apart.

Time wears on.

They just sit

And think and stare

At each other,

At the clock,

At the distance.

They just sit and

Reflect on all they’ve

Ever known.

It’s all they’ve ever

Been taught to do.

What happens?

We will be torn apart.

Timing

When I drive home, I always like the song on the radio so that it ends just as I'm turning into my driveway. This OCD-tendency has caused me to do some ridiculous things. Speed up, slow down, drive around the block, run red lights (no, not that). It's turned into a game, of sorts. I've timed many of my favorite songs by hitting play in my drive-way and then making a note of which S-turn or driveway I'm near when the song finishes, but this pre-planning takes out the game aspect of my tradition.

And isn't timing everything? 

Get caught at one red light, 

the bridge runs over, and you're driving 60 in a 30 

just to make it  home before that last chord is struck. 

Years ago, my parents were thinking of buying a new house and moving to a new school district. After some searching, it just wasn't the right time. And how different my life would be had it been the right time to move. I wouldn't be in the same school, wouldn't know the same people, wouldn't have the same college plans.

And isn't timing everything? 

You watch the avocado sit on the counter for days, waiting for it to ripen. 

But you wait one day too many and you're faced with a spoiled fruit.

So much for guacamole. 

Some people are masters at timing. They know when to say the right thing, when to duck out, when to bid higher, and when to fold. Whether it's luck or just a particularly developed sense of perception, these people make it to the top. Those who wait too long to take the shot hit the rim every time. Those who sit on a deal and ponder it risk their chances of striking it rich.

And isn't timing everything?

You shop around for airline tickets but decide to put it off till tomorrow.

But by morning, the price has nearly doubled.

Should have clicked purchase a little sooner.

Unfortunately, a small gray rabbit had some poor timing tonight. He ran out unexpectedly, and I think I nicked him with my tire. I was too nervous to go back and check. (I also had this slight fear that he was running from a coyote, so no way was I getting out of my car in the dark.) Said a little prayer--hopefully Peter Cottontail made it. As I was nearing home, I slowed to nearly 25 mph so that I could hear the ending of Dosed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers before putting it in park.

And isn't timing everything?

But perfect timing doesn't have to be naturally perfect. 

In fact, we ought to bend the rules and make opportune moments for ourselves,

Run life on our own watches, so that every decision can be made at just the right time.