Ever close: this Mister E.
in his wound-up history
Reading all he could find
with lots of inventions in mind
while boiling hot a steaming tea
and keeping an eye on me
and the ticking of the time
with plenty of gears to grind

Ever necessity rapped at his door
impatiently begging us for more
even as we worked late into the night
with sweaty, chalked hands and blurry sight
Copper coils from smelted ore
with precious oils from measured pours
we twisted time and set tomorrow right
while ignoring every other plight

Born from the pit of nothing we knew
we witnessed what ideas could do
with only our grit and God given ration
we believed in it; after a fashion
Without looking back we saw it through
and all our plans at last came true
With tarnished hearts and faces ashen
we discovered our steampunk passion