[Verse 1]
Thirty-four candles, Aunt Rosalind's counting,
doing napkin math on what my patience is costing,
cousin's gender-reveal magnet stuck on the fridge door,
Thanksgiving got a seating chart with room for one more.
Phone buzzes — old roommate's got twins in a stroller,
I'm just trying to finish my coffee before it gets colder.
Doctor's pamphlet talks windows like it's selling real estate,
everybody's got a stopwatch for a thing they can't relate.
Grandma's ring sits boxed, my mother keeps it polished,
like waiting on love is a crime to be abolished.
I'm happy with my person, we just ain't on their schedule,
but the whole room acts like quiet is illegal.
[Chorus]
Nobody's clock but mine gets to set the hour,
I'm not late to my own life, I'm just pacing out my power.
Let the hands keep moving, I'll arrive when I arrive,
this is my watch to wind, my time to stay alive.
[Verse 2]
My friend Denise changed her answer somewhere down the road,
when they ask "so when's the wedding," she just lightens the load,
says "when the cake's worth it and the rent's paid down,"
turns the question to a joke, lets the pressure drown.
I started trying that too, made it a little game,
every "any news yet" gets a story, not the same
tired script where the timeline's a group decision —
I write my own margins, mess with their whole vision.
Traded the red calendar for one that's mostly blank,
no circled dates, no deadline I gotta thank.
Called my mother straight up, kept it short and steady,
told her love ain't rushing just to prove that I'm ready.
[Verse 3]
Uncle Pete says "clock's ticking" like he's doing me a favor,
I just nod and pass the potatoes, keep my steady flavor.
Cousin got married at nineteen, divorced by twenty-three,
still they hold her up like a model I should be.
I'm building something slower, foundation over speed,
not racing to the altar just to fill some empty need.
Love ain't a deadline, it's a house built brick by brick,
I'd rather wait for solid than rush and watch it sick.
[Bridge]
Still some nights the countdown finds me anyway,
still do the math at midnight, lose an hour that way.
Nobody's handing me quiet tied up with a bow,
just learning the ticking gets softer, not gone, you know.
[Chorus]
Nobody's clock but mine gets to set the hour,
I'm not late to my own life, I'm just pacing out my power.
Let the hands keep moving, I'll arrive when I arrive,
this is my watch to wind, my time to stay alive.
[Chorus]
Nobody's clock but mine gets to set the hour,
I'm not late to my own life, I'm just pacing out my power.
Let the hands keep moving, I'll arrive when I arrive,
this is my watch to wind, my time to stay alive.