Lost Time Poem by Linda Ori

Ten years ago, driving home late at night
My son in his car sees a shimmering light
Hovering over a hill far away
'Wonder what that is, ' he started to say;
Reached down to put a tape in the deck,
Clock on the dash reads 2: 30 - he checked
Glancing back up at the road he could see
Five more lights hanging over the trees;
All of a sudden the engine goes dead,
He steers the car towards a pull-off ahead;
Took a few seconds to maneuver the car
Off to the edge since it wasn't that far;
Reaching back down to examine the tape
The engine starts running, the tires start to scrape
Loose gravel flying all over the road,
Music starts blaring in panic mode;
Glancing back down to the clock on the dash
The time now 3: 30 -gone by in a flash!
Ten minutes later he runs through the door
Shaking and sweating and pacing the floor,
I come from the bedroom to check out the noise
The sight I behold is NOT one of my boys,
His face is death white like he's just seen a ghost
(And this is my son who is braver than most)
He's shaking so badly he can't even speak
His knees are like jello, he's starting to freak!
Long minutes pass 'til he finally calms down
And although he speaks, he keeps looking around;
Something transpired the night of that ride
But still we don't know cause he keeps it inside;
One missing hour he'll never regain
But just where it went he can never explain.





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