Unsolved Mr. E Part Two
Unsolved Mr. E Part Two
Well Mr. E had done it - it was about time.
He changed the world (or at least their mind).
A time stealing alien, he'd made his mark.
His new business venture had created quite the spark!
The humans lined up, a queue just for him,
To shed their grieving hearts, a clock for him to trim.
Until up walked a mother, babies in her heart,
She warned Mr. E that her wisdom she'd impart.
"Look what you're doing," she started to say,
"You must check what you take and what it might weigh."
She held her heart now, where her babies lie asleep,
And before Mr. E could console her, she started to weep.
"Don't sneak up on me in the dead of night,"
"it's the only place I see them," her face a ghost white.
"Some of us need these moments," her eyes begging please,
"And these moments of grief only put us at ease."
"Take the sadness that's left by a bad day at work,"
"Or perhaps a long boring day spent by a desk clerk."
Her eye's filled with tears, but her voice steadied strong,
And the words that left her sad mouth sounded just like a song.
"When you lose your sweet babies there's not much left,"
"And the moments which are, shouldn't be touched by theft."
"Because it's all we have, don't you see, E?"
"The grief which we hold is our tight-fisted plea."
"So, check what you're taking," words meant to disable,
But she herself stood as if someone were holding her stable.
"When you see one of us weeping, pleading up to the skies,"
"To lose the one thing we have left would be our demise."
"So please, Mr. E, let us keep these moments of sorrow,"
"Surely there is someone else with some time you could borrow."
Mr. E shuffles his feet, the world beneath him unsteady,
Who he thought he was saving perhaps wasn't ready.
So, he looked in her heart, he a time-traveling thief,
And knew in that moment he had to be brief.
"I have an idea," he whispered in haste,
His alien heart knew there was no time to waste.
He put his hands on her heart, though they be green and long,
He must give her a gift if only to right this wrong.
And when he gave it to her, her eyes staring blank,
He was sure to fill her heart with enough time to bank.
When she came to, her blank eyes were filled high,
All that anger she had was now very much awry.
"How did you do it?" She pled, her thoughts out of whack.
For her heart was now filled with time given back.
She could remember first holding them, a time once left hazy,
She whispered, "thank you," (feeling rather crazy).
She could see their small hands, she thought she'd forgotten,
Their funeral gowns the softest of cotton.
She felt them move in her belly, now barren and hollow,
Felt their kicks and swings, moments in which to wallow.
She rocked them and stared, a mother lost in her mind's eye,
Her heart now filled with days that could fill up the sky.
…So, Mr.'s E's mailing address has once again been replaced,
He's met with a realtor and in a home, he's been placed.
And with that new home comes a sleek new promotion,
One that may in fact cause quite a commotion.
See, the time that he steals is now inspected with care,
(His receptionist helps from her brand-new swivel chair.)
To call it 'stealing' would be rather a shame,
We'll call it replacing, a much more fitting name.
He now takes the moments you hate in a long boring day,
Gives them to those needing it most, a time-returning valet.
So, if your day seems to never have enough minutes,
If the hours fly by and you've reached all your limits,
Let Mr. E donate the minutes he's taken,
Let your grief and sorrow be something never forsaken.
And please remember, just as E had to learn,
That some sad days are moments others yearn.
When a loved one is taken, or tragedy ensues,
Sometimes it's all we have left just to let sadness ooze.
Because when it comes to the burden of a mother's grief,
It is always time that is the biggest thief.
Katie Lilljedahl | 2022-01-25