It’s six o’clock in the a.m.
Between dawn and morning
Not asleep, not awake
Drifting in the ether
Watching the minutes tick
The day is ready, but I’m not
Precious time only for me
In a scary, cold world
The chill can’t get to me
I’m curled tightly and safe
I close my eyes and drift
Five minutes float by
Thoughts of the day pushed aside
If I could stay right here
Between dreams and reality
Grade school can wait
They won’t miss me
Five more minutes pass
I have a presentation to make
Others are counting on me
I polish each slide in my mind
Five more minutes are history
I think back to younger days
My dreams were pointed forward
Everything seemed so important
My world began anew daily
Five more minutes go by
I could just fall back to sleep
The past is playing in my head
Things I should tell the boy
He might not understand
Five more minutes are gone
I hear my mother making breakfast
Any minute my name will be called
The work week is only half over
The big hand is close to the six
The alarm is switched off
Minutes are very precious
Why do I worry about time
Chess pieces move my life around
Forward, to the side, even backward
Twilight time ticks by
I’m still cold but I get up
The fog is slowly burning away
Morning has officially arrived
The boy looks in the mirror
A man returns the look
Our day has begun