Pain of Love II - 6. One AM

Time passes so slowly when I can’t sleep.

The clock on the wall ticks off the seconds,

the only sound in the room.

And I find myself counting them as they pass,

knowing that 60 ticks will make a minute

and 3,600 ticks will make an hour;

and if I count to 21,600 ticks,

it will be daylight.

But there is nothing to look forward to in the sun,

nothing that the light of day will bring to me

except more time to wait,

more time to count the seconds

as they tick away to the minutes

that tick away to the hours

that make the day pass.

And if I count to 61,200 ticks

it will be about the time you and I usually talk,

except that I have no reason to expect you will be there tomorrow

or any way to think that I will.

So there is no reason to count the infernal ticks.

So I take the clock from the wall and smash it on the floor.

And the hateful ticking stops,

but time still passes.

Only more slowly now.