Time is Ticking

Another old picture prompt that I've uncovered in the ruins :)
I really love this one...intendd to be read like a conversation at first, but then a poem.

Show me the way, dear.
I'm lost.
Why?
took the wrong road.
could you see?
i was blind.
can i guide you?
hands are full, dear.
can i carry that?
no one can.
is it heavy?
more so with each tick.
tick?
and tock.
tell me, ma'am, what do you hold?
everything.
and everything has blinded you?
everything has killed me.
is it life, under there?
it's death under here.
is it hate under there?
its a little love under here.
does it burn? under there?
it's so cold under here.
again, ma'am, can i help?
if you must.
but how?
just slow down.
but i have to move forward.
you're killing me with every step.
should i take a step backward?
that's worse.
what, then?
stay still.

ma'am, what is it you hold?
its the world i hold.
is it heavy?
to me.
is it light?
to you.
can i see it?
on the wall.
does it sing?
it ticks.
is it time?
it's time.
can i hold it?
you can't.
may i try?
you're not strong enough.
i will hold out my arms, and i'll use all my might.
your might can't bear the burden, dear.
you said it was light, to me.
but light is relative.
either way, i am strong. i can hold it.
you cannot. its more than you.
more than me?
more than us.
more than us?
more than everything you've ever known, dear.
now hush.
yes, hush.
while i tell you a story.

When time was a child
when Eden was green
i could carry this with me.
and it was so easy.
so easy.
i could toss it
turn it
and it would always come back.
back to my waiting hands.
but one day, when i was small
i threw time too far
and time was too weak to rebound.
i searched for it, that part of this
but time had run away.
into the sky, my heart flew up
and upon it a new face was born.
it was white, it was black
it was numbers and scars
and as the sun dove, it started to sing.
tick tock
tick tock
tick tock went the world,
you're running out of me.
and no matter how far, how far i reached
time was always just one step ahead.
and now, i carry the ghost of the world
of the world where all was serene.
i carry a picture
a poem
a song
a portrait of what could have been
had i slowed down and not moved too fast.
i carry the shred of the peace we aim
the peace i threw to the stars.
you blame your misfortune on nature and science
but I, i blame it on me.
for i am the hands that hold your hearts,
the hands that make your spirits shrink.
i'm the fingers that clutch you, when time's running out
and i tell you to hurry, hurry on.
and i lie, i lie to you, because i want you to slow
the movement is tearing me down.
and as your feet run faster, my heart, it beats slower
tick
tock....
tick
tock...
tick tock.

and its heavy under here, where my heart should be.
its heavy, the burden's i'm blessed.
and no matter how strong, how brave you may be,
you will never be just strong enough.
so close your eyes
close your waiting arms.
i've nothing to give you today, dear.
but next time you move, so fast as to run
just remember these hands
these hands hanging on
to everything time's laughing down at.
they hang on to follies your nimble hearts scoff
and when yours weak, they only grow stronger.
because no matter how brave
no matter how strong
time is a burden
untouched.