“Borrowed Time”

  

c. 2026 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(9-25)

 

 

Living long on borrowed time

But when was this talent taken?

A quantity of clock-ticks, pilfered

In a transaction, most mistaken

No longer close to growing old

Clutching a purse filled with gold

 

I might offer a daring denial

One that can convince the best

But if made to explain the disparity

I would be put right to the test

My mouth, hanging agape

Looking around for a quick escape

 

Guilty men will show their cards

And I am in this group by choice

Seen for what I am to be

Though I protest and, raise my voice

Few believe in what I say

Engaging in this truth decay

 

I might have fled the scene on foot

If better thoughts had come to pass

But in the end, I failed and fell

Fingers slipping from the glass

The moment came and I was slow

To comprehend what I should know

 

There was a time when I did more

Than to simply take what chance bequeaths

But now I find myself a fool

Laid out under a Christmas wreath

With the holiday too far removed

And I am lost without a clue

 

If you might forgive a friend

I would take that gift with a grin

A ticket to redemption, sweet and sure

When this patient pause was wearing thin

Let me jump my place in line

And snatch these pearls from rooting swine

 

With reverence I reclaim the good

To turn my gaze toward the light

I’d rather shrug and apologize

Than languish in eternal night

It’s a bargain struck for the better

A sidestep for a giddy go-getter

 

Do you think my act deceives?

I understand that way of thinking

A concept on the rule of law

A dud decree from the lips of a king

But what I have in mind to tell

Is something more than a ringing bell

 

Running free with imagination

A wild embrace of an unseen world

I close my eyes and view more clearly

The cosmic creep of comets, hurled

A handclap sounding at the fore

With a crowd of crows at heaven’s door

 

“Give up on the task at hand!”

That is advice I won’t accept

I’ll put my shoulder to the wheel

And dig more deeply to intercept

The traveling orb, from its run

In a ring of fire around the sun

 

Borrowed time is a reward

When every other prize is won

A grab and dash at the dollar store

A convenient flop where sods are stunned

I might have appeared to be out of place

But there’s a halo set around my face

 

If it causes you to groan

When I come out on the other side

Don’t be angry with Lady Luck

She still stands tall, and dignified

I received a kiss as an act of grace

An invitation to a chariot race

 

If I win when undeserved

It will be made to mock the mighty

A satire set in a bygone age

On wings spread wide, to glide with glee

My name holds no importance here

I am not what I may appear

 

Now I put aside the scroll

With nothing more to bend the ear

Let me exit the stage with a bow

And mercifully be able to disappear

I have no more tricks up my sleeve

The hour is later than you perceive