Justin Lyons
← Writing

Use To Be A Thinker

  • Song
  • GenAI Text Assist
  • Original Writing
I used to sharpen sentences 
till they cut me back,
Letters lined like soldiers, 
every thought intact.
Ideas show up late like they 
forgot why they’re there.
Brain on a swivel, 
neck got a twitch,
Every plan halfway 
flips when it smells like a pitch.
I don’t stall, I spiral — 
that’s a different delay,
Run laps in my head 
just to stand in one place.
Focus fractured, 
glass-clock face,
Hands move forward 
but they lie about pace.
Minutes talk slick, 
seconds throw shade,
Hours sit back like, 
“Don’t look at me.”
Voltage rain, fluorescent nerves,
Every shower electric, 
prose skimmed to blurbs.
Too much shimmer 
for a quiet room,
Too much noise 
for a thought to bloom.
I used to write futures,
Now I edit the static.
Used to dream in widescreen,
Now it’s cropped and erratic.
Motivation rare — 
like a white dry cleaner,
Its a stain on pattern,
Yeah, somethin’s misaligned here.
Mind still movin 
but it don’t dance right,
More like traffic 
arguing with red lights.
Swervin through lanes 
that don’t technically exist,
Blink twice — 
miss whole exits.
Thoughts do donuts 
in an empty lot,
Burnin rubber 
but I ain’t goin far.
Skippin then trippin 
over almost-ideas,
Every answer dressed 
like a question in drag.
I want peace but it bores me quick,
Silence feels loud 
when you’re used to the hiss.
Comfort got a taste 
like microwave meals,
Fills you up 
but it ain’t real.
Neighborhood neat, 
same porch light glow,
Same conversations 
nobody knows.
Dissatisfied in climate control,
Curtains twitch 
when the mail truck rolls.
I used to write futures,
Now I audit the damage.
Used to see clean lines,
Now it’s all fine print panic.
Motivation rare — 
like a white dry cleaner,
You don’t point it out, 
you just feel somethin ain’t normal here.
I’m not broken — 
I’m bent with memory.
Not empty — 
just crowded improperly.
Too many tabs open, 
none of ‘em load,
Cursor blinkin like, 
“Man, you already know.”
Yeah… I still think.
I still see.
I just don’t arrive where I leave.
Used to trust the spark, 
now I question the flame,
Is it lightin the way 
or just burnin the same?
Every fix feels temporary, 
duct-taped resolve,
Holdin shape long enough 
to say it evolved.
I don’t miss the past — 
I miss the traction,
When effort equaled forward reaction.
Now it’s motion without displacement,
Gym treadmill life, 
same-view cadence.
Still here, still aware, 
still sharp when it counts,
Still carry whole worlds 
in unmarked amounts.
Just learnin the math 
of diminished returns,
How to sit with the heat 
instead of chasing the burn.
I used to write futures,
Now I map the interference.
Still a thinker — 
just thinkin in different dimensions.
Motivation rare — 
like a white dry cleaner,
If you know, you know — 
yeah, the pattern don’t repeat here.
Yeah.
Still here.