There he sits in his chair,
Ready to go through his checklist for the day,
Little does he know,
His mind has other games to play.
Experiments aside,
Its simulations for the time being,
To run the clock down,
Until lunch break comes calling.
Productivity is the motto at heart,
But thanks to an ample lack of sleep,
Such initial motivations,
Just fall apart.
Trying all he can and must,
To stay awake,
He takes a walk,
Maybe a short break.
Alighting onto the path of knowledge,
And hoping to get lost,
He picks up a review paper to go through,
Not aware his efforts will come at a high cost.
Page after page, with heavyset eyes,
He pores through the work,
Glancing every so often, tiringly, at the computer screen,
For any promising result, as would a wayward clerk.
To steady his periodic consciousness,
Intermittently, he is driven to source,
Those libraries of social media entertainment,
Youtube videos and Facebook of course.
Soon enough, work-hour comes to a close,
As the afternoon tide arrives,
And in its welcoming arms,
Life swings a surprise.
Lo and behold, he is struck by an epiphany,
A grasp at an ingenious thought,
Rushing, he notes down his idea,
Commending his mind on a battle well-fought.
Seeking the counsel of his Professor,
He wishes to share the excitement of his finding,
To his Jedi Master of sorts,
Having put to good use, his share of the funding.
And therein he meets an exhausted figure,
Forcing his will upon public grants all day,
Wishing nothing more than directing research,
That can bend to his singular way.
With only a few minutes at hand,
The padawan shares his thoughts,
The master applauding him,
On an idea well caught.
The day may have come to an end,
But the night remains,
For more experiments to begin,
And curiosity to retain.
For in science,
Results don’t come easy, as they say,
But procrastination, well done,
Can go a long way.
The Pensive Reverie 