Coffee rings on every page
Tabs open like a hurricane
Clock blinking in that quiet rage
Red numbers
Red flags
Same thing
I keep saying “one more task”
Eyes burn
Screen glow
Heart racing fast
This to-do list laughs back at me
Stacked like matches ready to meet
Deadlines are on fire
Sparks in all my wires
Running through the fog and smoke
Chasing down a moving goal
Deadlines are on fire
Breathing in the tire and toner
I’m alive and overworked
Riding on the edge
It hurts
Sticky notes across the wall
Each one feels like a siren call
Phone buzzing like it’s keeping score
Every ping another open door
I keep saying “after this”
But the finish line just shifts and shifts
Calendar looks like a war
Every square a little more scorched
If it all burns down tonight
Will the world still spin just right?
If I step outside this light
Will I remember how to breathe?
Deadlines blazing overhead
Still I’m standing in the red
But my pulse says I’m not done
Racing embers toward the sun
