By Button Poetry
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Brandon Leake, the recent America’s Got Talent champion, performing at IWPS 2019 in San Diego, CA.
Transcript provided by YouTube:
00:05
tick
00:06
while staring at the clock in the
00:07
waiting room at the er
00:09
my mind wanders to places that it need
00:11
not roam tick
00:13
and now i’m caught in these existential
00:14
thoughts because i believe in god yet
00:16
i’m afraid to die but i’m more afraid to
00:19
live that
00:20
may sound confusing just hear me out
00:22
tick
00:23
the times i feel closest to death is
00:24
when i feel most alive so i
00:26
took vitality under lock and key pray
00:29
every night that joy
00:30
don’t come in the morning because joy
00:32
always comes before morning just like
00:34
life
00:35
always comes before death and anxiety
00:38
ain’t in my blood
00:39
but it’s akin to me that’s why i’ve
00:40
adopted this nervous tic
00:42
just trying to get a grip but shaky
00:44
hands and
00:45
sweaty poems don’t make way for a grasp
00:47
on reality i just want to fulfill life
00:50
one of heartfelt celebrations living in
00:52
the moment casting away
00:54
twilight’s uncertainty but even in bliss
00:56
i can still hear the tick of desk
00:58
clocking
00:59
now i’m questioning everything my
01:01
instincts say preserve life
01:02
even at the risk of losing joy my heart
01:05
says embrace these moments because they
01:06
don’t come back no more
01:08
and now i’m here staring at these two
01:10
hands on the clock wedged between
01:12
pseudo dualities i can hear it growing
01:14
louder tick tick
01:15
my fear has me overly patient tick tick
01:18
my drive got me feeling complacent tick
01:20
tick it take
01:20
time to execute dedication tick tick
01:23
look at this time that i wasted
01:25
now that much closer to the grave was so
01:27
much left undone the ink on these pages
01:29
of life still wet and i can already feel
01:31
the book closing
01:33
that’s why the story must be heard now
01:35
but no one cares about tales from the
01:37
cryptic
01:38
can’t y’all decipher this
01:41
this trepidation lingering behind
01:43
fabricated smiles
01:45
and counterfeit laughs what i’m saying
01:47
is i need saving
01:49
because my life is fading in
01:50
anticipation of when the clock stops
01:57
[Applause]
02:05
see
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video