The clock on the wall had a script it seems
And I learned my lines in the quiet of my dreams
“At twenty-five a steady hand a diamond’s gleam”
So I smiled for the camera a flawless scene
And when the cracks appeared a hairline thread
I painted them over with “things we said”
And at the strike of midnight in a borrowed dress
I mastered the art of the quiet “yes”
Oh the orchestra’s tuning in my chest
A symphony of “shoulds”and second-guess
The curtain’s up there’s no confessional
Just the show the sacred terrible show
And I’m right on time
For the breakdown in a perfect rhyme
Right on time
To forgive the unforgivable crime
I’m pacing the stage of this borrowed life
On cue with the trembling on cue with the strife
I break my heart…right on time
And make the shattering look sublime
Then the script said “grieve ”but be quick be clean
Don’t let the mascara run don’t make a scene
So I folded the sorrow a neat origami
Pressed in a book no one would ever see
And when the joy came wild and overdue
I checked the clock measured how much was true
Diluted the lightning to a proper glow
So as not to blind the status quo
Oh the spotlight finds the tender bruise
And calls it a jewel for the evening news
So I turn it out I sell the pain
In a minor key like a soft spring rain
And I’m right on time
For the healing that never quite sticks
Right on time
With the elegant practiced tricks
I’m hitting my mark in the third act blues
On cue with the leaving on cue with the ruse
I stand and bow…right on time
To a love I was never meant to choose
But who’s the director And who wrote this part
This map of a cavern where I’ve lost my heart
This schedule of wounds this timeline of art
I’m so tired of performing this “masterpiece”start…
Is there a line for the woman behind the design
Or am I just the echo…of a forgotten line
Was I right on time!
For the love that was a borderline!
Was I right on time!
To let the real me resign!
I’m tearing the script in the blinding light!
No more cues!No more “right on time”!
I’m missing my mark tonight!
And it feels…like the…first…
…real thing
