it's time

I can hear ticking clocks running rampant in me
chiming in an apogee waiting for the synergy
of her and me, waiting on the light
and I never say goodnight, never say that I'm always right

~Wait - Something Corporate

It's weird to think that the seemingly mundane sound of a clock ticking is foreign to me. But the truth is that I don't even really know how to tell time on a clock face. When I was ten, I got a digital watch for my birthday and I never looked back. No one has a watch anymore, everyone checks the time on their cell phone or iPods. We're moving away from the steady click of time. The sundial was invented by the Egyptians as early as 1500 BCE. However, time wasn't standardized until after the invention of the railroad, when more precise times were required. Just over a hundred years since then, we've forgotten clocks.

Today, I have time ticking around my neck. The steady rhythm, counting out the moments of the present, sending them reeling into the past. Sending me reeling towards my future. You could see it as a noose, tying me to measurable time. But today, with the sun shining and the air full of spring, I choose to see it as a heartbeat, ticking the words of my future one by one.

Time goes by from year to year
And no one asks why I am standing here
But I have my answer as I look to the sky
This is the time of no reply.

~Time of No Reply - Nick Drake