Beaten By the Clock

We have thirty minutes for this exam.
There are three questions to answer.
Question one is such a breeze!
"Sarah was what kind of dancer?"

Tick, tick, tick, tick. The race has just begun.
Tick, tick, tick-tick-tick, tick. Last time the clock won!

There are twenty-five more minutes to go.
I'm now on question two.
This is a 'character' question...
"Describe Sarah's sister Sue."

Each time that I sit an exam
My mind blanks and the time flies fast!
I wonder if the time will come
For me to beat that clock, at last!

Tick, tick, tick-tick-tick, tick. 
I can't grip my pen!
Tick, tick, tick-tick-tick, tick.
Will the clock beat me again?

There's only ten more minutes to go.
As you can see, this is comprehension.
I've just started to answer question three,
"How does the writer build up tension?"

Tick, tick, tick, tick.
It's a mental game, this rhyme!
Tick, tick, tick-tick-tick, tick.
I might just finish on time. 

Tick. Tick. Point three.
Tick, tick. Point four.
The time is almost up!
Need two more points to get full score!

Tick, tick. Twenty seconds.
Tick, tick. Eighteen.
Oh that rotten clock 
Is so dreadfully mean!

Tick, tick. Ten seconds. 
Tick, tick. Six.
Tick-tick-tick, tick, tick-tick-tick, tick....
No!

"Pens down!"

I've been beaten by the clock!
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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