Age In A Day

Happiness is music.
Wheels go 'round .
Every face a smile,
Happy song, happy sound.

Racing paper boats -
Butterflies flutter -
Wings stop slowly.
Boats down the gutter.

Pushed into desk,
Handed a pencil -
Quick to pick up,
Just trace the stencil.

Stencil removed,
Pencil to pen -
Made a mistake?
Start over again.

Toys lose their fun.
All work no play.
Childhood ending -
I say I'm okay.
Pigtails lose curls,

Smile doesn't shine,
Lip gloss turned red,
Still saying I'm fine.

Papers stacked high -
Clock losing time -
Friends just leave -
Poems losing rhyme.

Hair pulled out,
Stacks falling down.
Dunked under water -
Starting to drown.

Scared of the future,

Stuck in the past.
Too much to handle -
Time's ticking fast.

Stack almost completed.
Time misspent.
More and more papers,
Straight line goes bent.

Desk to office,
Pen to keyboard -
Looking for help,
But always ignored.

Hand reaches out -
Shrivels back in.
Too much pressure,
Room starts to spin.

Hair falls on face,
Dress is tattered,
Threw the clock -
Glass is shattered.

Skin losing pigment -
Rosy cheeks almost gone.
Free time is over,
Yet still can't move on.

Face grows wrinkles,
Fingers curl up.
Pushed out of childhood.
Forced to grow up.

Grow out of games -
Grow out of fun -
Grown into work -
Work never done.

Songs now silent.

Colors now gray.
Stress omnipresent -
More than willing to stay.

A year to a month -
A day to an hour -
Petals fall quickly,
Off from the flower.

Feeling so close to death,
Though I'm less than halfway.
Seems like I was forced -
To age in a day.