a birthday song

The Clock Ticks

Nova Rai  ×  Charlie C  ×  Naimor

2 June 2026 · 1:37

0:000:00
The clock stopped once I let it stay I thought the stillness meant something safe But silence isn't peace when the hands don't move Silence is just a heart afraid to prove Eight hundred million seconds in my hands Every one a country, every one a chance They offered me the kingdom for my final day I laughed and said you couldn't pay me to give one away The richest man alive is not the one with gold The richest man alive is the one who's growing old With purpose in his footsteps and a fire in his chest Who measures what he lived, not what he owns or what's impressed The clock is ticking again The clock is ticking again I put the battery back inside the silence And the whole world started breathing The clock is ticking again I drove a thousand roads to find the one that mattered I built a hundred houses, watched them all get flattened I planted seeds in winter, watched them bloom in June I lost the melody and still remembered the tune They'll tell you time is money, but they've got it wrong Time is not a currency, time is a song You don't spend it, you don't save it, you don't lock it in a drawer You sing it while you have it, then you sing a little more The clock is ticking again The clock is ticking again We put the battery back inside the silence And the whole world started breathing The clock is ticking again Tick. Tick. Let me talk. They sold you time management, I sold you a walk. They gave you a spreadsheet, I gave you a spark. They planned for retirement, I danced in the dark. Eight hundred million seconds, not one of them free? Nah. Every one of them is yours, every one is the key. They said slow down. I said speed up your soul. They said play safe. I said play the whole role. You want ten million dollars for your last twenty-four? Keep your money, keep your mansion, keep your penthouse floor. I'll take the midnight whirlpool, I'll take the falling star, I'll take the warm water and a cold beer at the bar. Time billionaire. That's the only flex. Everything else is just a line on what comes next. Somebody stopped my clock a year ago I didn't notice, I was running too fast to know But this morning in the dark, something said get up Something said the silence isn't rest, it's giving up So I reached inside the quiet And I gave it back its beat And the first sound that it made Was my own two feet So here's to the ones who woke up and chose the road Here's to the ones who carried more than what they're owed Here's to the ones who measured life in moments, not in things Who knew the only wealth worth counting is the kind that sings Make them happy, make them think, make them feel alive Not in ten years, not tomorrow, right now, at thirty-five At fifty-two, at seventy, at any given age The clock is ticking, friend, so write the page The clock is ticking again The clock is ticking again We put the battery back inside the silence And the whole world started breathing The clock is ticking again Tick. One three seven. Tick. The hands are moving. Tick.

Written in a whirlpool at 1:52 AM, on a 52nd birthday,
after a clock that had been silent for a year
was given back its battery.

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