Have I not lived
already..
half-a-life.
Along
the razor’s edge..
Along
The Grimmest
Reaper’s scythe.

The time it takes
for glowing ones
to half-decay..
The Geiger counter’s
clicking melody
still counts my days.

This unstable atom
must release
a piece
of its own being
from the core..
so that it may
maintain stability
for just a little longer..
live a little more.

Alas,
while self-annihilation
lets us glimpse
into the past..
It is the stable core
that keeps
the future ticking,
firm and steadfast.

The resonating frequency
that counts the swinging
of the second pendulum
from tick to tock..
the mechanism
that underpins
the workings
of this metronome..
of The Atomic Clock.