not with a bang but with a whimper

i want the world to stop, and pause. just enough to catch my breath, to separate the cacophony of sounds that have blurred together, to distill the suddenly thick unforgiving air. but the cars still zoom swiftly by, with their busy destinations to reach. the piano continues playing, a beautiful tune lost to calloused ears, racing towards the final diminuendo. the world languishes oblivious to those slowly fading within it, rolling on with as much certainty even as those fading become nothing more than glimpses of a vagrant shadow. it seems almost cruel, to turn the key even as the gears slowly come undone, willing the mechanics forward, tooth against tooth, pushing and tugging, anguish grinding under the strain of locked jaws of metal. yet it pushes just enough to will the unmoveable beast forward, inch by inch, flogging those hind limbs into function and alas into motion.