Davis High Poetry: Tick Tick Tok

More stories from Eli Tesch

Debate region
March 13, 2020
Davis+High+Poetry%3A+Tick+Tick+Tok

Day: unknown 2:15
It’s ambient the sound of cars rolling by. Persistent like the second hand of a clock.
Tick, Tick, Tick.
The cars rush by. I might die here. There is nothing I can do to stop it.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
Let’s say I did die. What would they find? Under my old hat, some 10 cent bead necklaces. The folded torn and tattered papers under my bed, some drenched in ink, others tears. What is it worth? My collection of empty glass coke bottles, a few cents maybe. 15 pesos, if only they knew how it’s true value.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
It’s kinda hot in here. I pull the window open more. Ah, that feels nice– an easter breeze. It’s pretty out there. Too bad I’m in here.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
Maybe I could– Nah.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
The screen lights up; thousands of pixels, hundreds of colors, the twist and turn in my mind as if I might feel something. 2:19. I hit the power button. I am going to die in here. I check my messages, I wonder how joe is? 2 weeks, left me on read, or not. I sit there and painfully drag the refresh down, over and over again. Please, please cure me, send me something! Even seeing that little circle spin, it helps, or so I think.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
So, all this time. This is what I’ve worked for, a handful of beads, some empty coke bottles, and 25 pesos. Oh, and no one, not a single person I can, or want to hold a conversation with.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
I have gained so much 16 years, 290 days, 5 hours and 28 minutes years worth. But gained nothing, nothing at all. Close to 8 billion that’s how many people we have on earth. 7,775,995,665:1 to put it plainly.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.
I will slip away silently not the smallest ripple, or any remorse in my ghostly wake.
Tick, tick, tick, the cars rush by.