A high aspiration,

But short on time

Due dates, deadlines

Always something assigned

Countdown, time clock

Clock “talk,” tick-tock:

Progress demands

A turn of the page.

Reviewed, critiqued

And graded.

Hurried, harried

Tossed together,

Done on time.

Enough to get by.

Phew! Finally finished!

Hope for any –ed ending.

Hope for past tense.

But “next on the list”

Must move on.

Foremost, whatever sells:

Mainstream, mass appeal

Conjured vs. created, dumbed-down

Sold-out, soulless.

Condensed or fluffed

Compromised by deadline

Now just an aspiration.

Polished, but not exactly

The original idea.