Lost time!

To the quiet shop, I bore my plea,

\"Can you please fix this right for me?\"

The watchman murmured, slow and low,

\"I am trying,\" he let me know.

\"Excellent!\" I pushed, a hopeful sigh,

\"Then please, I beg you, harder try!\"

Three moon cycles waned and grew,

Back to his counter, I withdrew.

\"My watch?\" I asked, with rising dread.

\"I\'m having a hard time,\" he said.

\"You must have patience,\" was his claim,

My patience bled into a flame.

\"Patience?\" I cried, my voice was strained,

\"How hard can common gears be gained?\"

He called it \'complex,\' a weary plea,

I sensed he toyed with me.

He lured me in, a cruel design,

To make me wait, to cross the line.

Each week, each month, his simple game,

My rising anger, fueled by shame.

Enough! I thought, no more this strife,

No more this draining, fruitless life.

\"Keep it,\" I said, a bitter phrase,

And walked away from those lost days.

When all control begins to cease,

And people\'s games deny all peace,

You sometimes break, and breathe, \"You win,\" it\'s true,

A bitter peace, to start anew.

I yearned for that watch, my time untold,

But knew its grasp I\'d never hold.

So I\'ll do without it, truly free,

And rise above this mockery.