The atomic clock granted an extra second,

like some miserly, downcast and heartbroken Scrooge,

it offered no extra bonus,

such as a break from the brain

and the incessant noise of Time chipping away at our lives

with a tiny hammer, sculpting the grave before

we have had chance to crawl,

nor did it shove in a half day’s rest period in which Humanity

could look up at the stars and wonder why our feet

were firmly stuck in bronzing clay.

Instead it suggested to the scientists polishing its hardened shell