Unsolved Mr. E Part One

When it came to Mr. E

There was always something you couldn't quite see…

Cloaked in his own astounding demise

His demeanor, not clothes, bore his disguise.

Between family and moving he had lost so much,

it often left him just out of touch.

Strangers would whisper, co-workers the same.

When it came to townie gossip, neither had shame.

There was something you couldn't quite put your finger on,

It seemed he was perhaps pulling a long con.

(Between just you and me, Mr. E had a secret,

One if you heard you'd hardly believe it.)

You see, Mr. E was not an Earth man,

but a time-traveling thief (he lived in his van!)

With extra-large eyes and skin tinted green,

He hid in his cubicle, behind his work's screen.

For if they knew just what he was sent here to take,

They'd put up a fight, an enemy he'd make

His family floated adrift above the whole world.

A spaceship off course, above him they whirled.

With time travel their goal; a ship run on minutes,

A ship was left strayed, his family within it.

Time was their energy, with once their engines did churn,

But now lost in space, that time they must earn.

They'd run out of time, their gas tank read "E,"

So, Mr. E left for Earth on a time-stealing spree.

So, as you made your way to work, or washed your red car,

He'd steal your sweet minutes (he kept them in a jar!).

And when the job was done, to his ship he'd return

To fill up the tank- yet still more time it would yearn!

Little moments he'd steal to fill up their tank,

A minute here, seconds there, so many to bank.

And often as not, under times so magnificent,

He found he often felt quite insignificant.

But don't be confused with what he was taking,

The minutes he took were only heartbreaking.

He'd steal a moment a grief, take the load off your heart,

A moment that gravity may have pulled you apart.

He'd steal the moment you felt like you ruined your day,

Take that moment of weakness and make it slightly okay.

Mr. E would quite often steal the hour of time

You'd spend in a waiting room, or at the end of a line.

He'd take these bad moments and what would he do?

Mr. E'd fill the tank of a ship that once flew!

And while it seemed that his ship was the one left stiffed,

It was Mr. E's heart that was truly adrift.

For the sadness he took to patch up your day,

Was felt with his whole being, a harrowing display.

And though he be but green in his kind,

It was never by envy with which he was designed.

A loophole he'd found between his ship and here,

If he just took our sadness - our hearts he'd dog-ear.

So, if you blink and it feels like a bad day flashed by,

Don't be perturbed, Mr. E is quite sly.

Or when you wake from darkness with a heart full of peace,

Know t'was an alien friend with who your pain was released.

When you've lost it all and have nothing left,

Let Mr. E come by; your sadness, his theft.

If you come across someone just a bit aloof,

Perhaps in their hearts lies the burden of proof.

And keep in mind that maybe they are just a bit wary

Of not only what they've taken, but what they must carry.

Katie Lilljedahl | 2022-01-25