Tick, Tock

Is it you or me who sits
on this desk before books,
as the tick of the clock
assimilates into a bomb,
reminding me of the horrors,
which will explode in a week
if these textbooks are not dealt
with loyalty and instead frivolity?

The tick of the clock
is a mere irony to me,
as these checkboxes on the examination papers
appear as gibberish, since I am unable to choose which
box to tick and submit a response,
which could only guarantee
me an inferior status to the neighbour’s son’s score,
from last year.

The pens scribble a story of
mere frustration, as the markers
have assumed the responsibility to
decorate the calendars with markings,
of reminders, and of daunting understanding
my wait to finish this one menial textbook,
in glory with sweat perfusing through,
glands only my textbook can explain.

There are historical rankings published,
on news websites and newspapers from
the previous year, stating the toppers,
and only erudite who reside on the
same land as me, while the comparisons
force me to enter a land created via my
daydreaming as a remedy to the horrors,
of the real world where they are about to explode.

Is it you or me who sits on this desk before books,
wailing, waiting, flustered, lost?

Devarya Singhania is a published poet and has an Amazon Kindle Bestseller titled Armories and Arsenals. You can find him on Instagram through the username @iamdevarya

Featured image:  Yustinus Tjiuwanda / Unsplash