who never lands

Context: This is a tale about neverlanding, the lure of losing ourselves in a good rush – and a forgotten piece of cake.

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today is neverland.
like there is no tomorrow.
like there was no yesterday.
we never land.

but we run and we fight.
yawning mouth wide open,
showing off our teeth
to scare away
how tight we feel
with pride.

ticktock.
what is this ticking noise?
no clock in sight.

ticktock.
who is this urging voice?
a clock inside.
swallowed by choice.

meanwhile the world softly crumbles around us.
like a tried-out piece of cake
forgotten at the bottom of an old-schooled bag.
forgotten like the break we didn’t take
as we were too hooked by the pace of things.

“wendy, help us please,
make us be at ease
with the damage we’ve done.”

and then she sings
and wants to put us to bed.
and we get mad
cause we don’t want to rest,
cause we’re living the best
time of our lives.

didn’t we always know
that being a grown-up sucks?
tugs in the nerves,
no fun at all.
always told you so.

“shadow, shadow on the wall,
will you catch me if i fall?”

“oh boy,
you are not lost enough to hit the mark.
no spark for you today.”

the shadow giggles
and disappears into the boundless dark.

meanwhile the world crumbles on.
and we just want to fly away
‘cause we know that
if we stay
we would need to take that break.
we would need to
swallow that half-tried self-made cake
instead of the clock.

tick tock.

we would need to land.
we would need to
start to care.

© cynje