The Procrastinator’s Burden

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
Your work yet to delay—
Go bind your duties elsewhere
It doesn’t have to be today!
To wait in YouTube or a phone
With reluctant blithe and bliss —
Or even take up cleaning,
Anything but this…

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
No patience to abide,
To veil tomorrow’s terror
To cast it all aside;
To think of papers due,
And of small assignments near.
Is enough to make him quiver,
The basis of his fear.

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
And revel in your hour,
And slowly, ever slowly,
Each minute you devour.
“12:00? No problem!
I’ve still got half the day;
I’ll watch Netflix until three
And work without delay!”

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
For suppertime it is:
The work is still there waiting,
“Just turn it in” it says;
The cry of your inner voice
As another post is liked,
Screams “JUST DO THE FREAKING ASSIGNMENT,
“AND FINISH IT TONIGHT!”

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
The panic starts to creep—
As 11:59 approaches
Without success from your amazing technique;
No time to cry or whisper,
Nor anything to replace
The guilt you harbor, the regret you hold
The fear and dread you face

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
The assignment nearly done— it almost was!
But as you’re about to turn it in,
The phone beside you starts to buzz
And just like that, it’s submitted late
Like most assignments from the past six years,
And now you face at school tomorrow,
The judgment of your peers!

Take up the Procrastinator’s burden—
And live inside thy head—
For you think that you’re immune
To this existential dread;
“I can quit when I want”, you say
“The work shall be done in full”
But let us be realistic, dear—
No one believes that bull.