09 / Societal Ignition

Clock Don't Stop

Monuments

Clock don't stop, tick tock, lock jaw, lock box,
Time got teeth in the teeth of the clock.
Click clack, clock-in, locked in, late,
Punch card charged me through the charge-by date.
Slipstream, sleep debt, deep breath, due,
Every little second got a second job too.
Run it, rerun it, running the rate,
The minute I rest is the minute they take.

Tick twitch, wrist switch, watch bite, jaw grind,
Fine print sprints through the back of my mind.
Spin pin, pinwheel, wheel well, well wound,
Rounds run round till the rundown runs down.
Clock spit, cog slip, caught in the cost,
Lost in the ledger, leisure got lost.
Tense tense, time tense, timeline tight,
Night shift knifed through the nine-to-five bite.

Tick turned ticket, docket, doctrine, due,
Calendar crossed dates, then it crossed me too.
Tock turned docked pay, locked gate, locked door,
Workday walked in with a warrant for more.
Grace got graded, grated, garnished, gone,
Late fee came early with a lien in its palm.
Net thirty, next thirty, neck in a knot,
Thirty little nets where the nervous ticks rot.

Due date, doomsday, dues paid, dues say more,
Seconds second every sentence I swore.
Beat became meter, meter measured my breath,
Payday paid day-old debts into death.
Shift turned shiv, then the shiv stuck deep,
Sleep got skipped for the slips I keep.
Week turned weak, then the weak got billed,
Still life moved while the life stood still.
Timer turned tyrant, tired out my name,
Timecard carved me and carried the blame.

Clock don't stop, tick tock, lock jaw, lock box,
Time got teeth in the teeth of the clock.
Click clack, clock-in, locked in, late,
Punch card charged me through the charge-by date.
Slipstream, sleep debt, deep breath, due,
Every little second got a second job too.
Run it, rerun it, running the rate,
The minute I rest is the minute they take.

Minute by minute, minted, metered, mined,
Mind got a meter and the meter mined mine.
Hour got ours, then ours got owed,
Owed got old till the old clock groaned.
Tally the toll, then the toll takes tone,
Tone turns stone when the phone says loan.
Notice, noose knot, not yet, next,
Every new now got a due date text.

Count down, count up, counter got counted,
Amount got mounted, the mountain got rounded.
Roundabout route, routed, rooted in rot,
Rotor in the chest where the rest should stop.
Mouth full of months, month-end mumbles,
Thumb on timer, timeline tumbles.
Rent tense, spent sense, sentence got sped,
Red ink ringing in the rim of my head.

Time sold, dime made, dime buys time,
Spend both, both spent, spent empties prime.
Kill clock, clock kills, kills the kind,
Clock in, lock out, out locks mind.
Save date, date breaks, breaks the spine,
Serve wage, wage serves, serves the time.
Chase tick, tick chases, chases mine,
Pay mind, mind taxes, taxes mine.

Reminder remembered the chains on my feet,
Delay made a layaway grave in the street.
Every alarm is a law with a tone,
Every tone is a toll, every toll is a stone.
Present for presence, absent for me,
Receipts from a future I never could see.
If patience is virtue, the virtue got priced,
Bought one more second, paid for it twice.

Clock don't stop, tick tock, lock jaw, lock box,
Time got teeth in the teeth of the clock.
Click clack, clock-in, locked in, late,
Punch card charged me through the charge-by date.
Due date, doomsday, dues paid, dues say more,
Seconds second every sentence I swore.
Run it, rerun it, running the rate,
The minute I rest is the minute they take.

Back to Monuments