And Time Passed By

The diet plan stuck to my fridge

Built guilt and hope into a bridge

That stretched from Monday's stern resolve

To Friday's watch-it-all-dissolve—

And time passed by.

Those jeans I kept from years ago,

"I'll fit them soon," I whispered low,

Through seasons, fashions, changing shapes,

Through promises and near-escapes—

And time passed by.

That book I meant to write one day

Stayed locked in thoughts that slipped away,

While busy life filled every page

With "later," "soon," and "at that stage"—

And time passed by.

The friends I meant to call last week,

Those conversations yet to speak,

Their numbers saved in phones grown old,

Their stories left unknown, untold—

And time passed by.

That garden shed I planned to clean

(Since nineteen-ninety-seventeen),

Now hosts a dynasty of mice

Who've claimed it as their paradise—

And time passed by.

My father's workbench gathers dust,

His tools are slowly turning rust,

I meant to learn his craftsman's ways,

But somehow lost those precious days—

And time passed by.

The mirror shows a stranger's face

Where youth once held a fleeting grace,

Yet in my mind, I'm twenty-three...

How swift the years flow out to sea,

As time slips by.