Woman of Stone
I saw her first by the apple tree
Where she picked the ripe red fruit,
Her auburn hair in a twisted coil
And a crinoline to suit,
I saw her eyes as she turned to me
Two azure pools, afloat;
But they didn't hazard a glance at me,
Not even a single glance at me,
She didn't venture a glance at me
As my song died in my throat!
I lost control of my heart that day
I could neither eat nor drink,
Though I felt my substance fade away
I was too confused to think,
And a fever took me, by and by,
I took to my bed, a week,
But she never came to visit me,
Not even a thought to visit me,
I'd have given the earth to visit me
While my spirit lay so bleak!
She had a million suitors then
And she turned them all away,
They said that the grass was dry and sere
In the meadow, where she lay,
She made it known she was quite content
In life, to be left alone,
She hadn't the need for men, she said,
Not even one special man, she said,
‘I'd rather be left for dead, ' she said;
They called her: ‘Woman of Stone! '
She taunted and teased, quite merciless,
She treated men with contempt,
She'd flutter her painted eyelashes
In the Halls of the Regiment,
And many an Officer fell for her
In his red and his golden braid,
‘I never did like a uniform,
Too bad, you're wearing a uniform! '
She'd turn her back on a uniform
And she'd smile as she walked away.
They said she'd been left at the altar
When she was barely seventeen,
She'd chosen a young subaltern, who
Renewed his vows to the Queen,
His regiment marched away that day
To the fields at Waterloo,
He carried his musket high with pride
Then tramped in mud through the countryside,
His blood was scattered both far and wide
When the battle was finally through!
I started attending the balls where she
Was teasing and taunting still,
I never was much of a dancer, but
I can foot a mean quadrille;
I tried my best to ignore her there,
Danced gaily round with a friend,
Whenever we'd meet, I'd turn away,
Look anywhere else, but not betray
The hints in her eyes or her body's sway,
And I'd leave before the end!
The number of balls was endless when
The soldiers came marching home,
They feted the Duke of Wellington
For beating the Frenchies own;
And still I tried to avoid her there
This Caroline Ainslie Stack,
She'd follow me round the ballroom then,
A dancing card and a thrust out pen
But I wouldn't sign, again and again,
Her eyes turned slowly black.
She caught me up in the village street,
She backed me against a wall,
Then said: ‘It's not a man but a mouse
Won't dance with me at the ball! '
I shrugged and murmured, and took my leave
She followed me all the way home;
I tried to remember the things I said
That night, it rattles on through my head,
I found her lying across my bed
Without a stitch of her own!
We married, back in the spring this year,
Caroline's starting to show,
She holds my arm on the way to church
And she greets with a warm ‘Hello! '
I've never told how I fell in love,
How she cut me, clear to the bone,
But on evenings here, as warm as this
I can taste of my woman's magic kiss,
And she tells me, ‘Dear, we live in bliss! '
She does - my Woman of Stone!
15 March 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Creation of the Moon
The man cut his throat and left his head there.
The others went to get it.
When they got there they put the head in a sack.
Farther on the head fell out onto the ground.
They put the head back in the sack.
Farther on the head fell out again.
Around the first sack they put a second one that
was thicker.
But the head fell out just the same.
It should be explained that they were taking the head
to show to the others.
They did not put the head back in the sack.
They left it in the middle of the road.
They went away.
They crossed the river.
But the head followed them.
They climbed up a tree full of fruit
to see whether it would go past.
The head stopped at the foot of the tree
and asked them for some fruit.
So the men shook the tree.
The head went to get the fruit.
Then it asked for some more.
So the men shook the tree
so that the fruit fell into the water.
The head said it couldn't get the fruit from there.
So the men threw the fruit a long way
to make the head go a long way to get it so they could go.
While the head was getting the fruit
the men got down from the tree and went on.
The head came back and looked at the tree
and didn't see anybody
so went on rolling down the road.
The men had stopped to wait
to see whether the head would follow them.
They saw the head come rolling.
They ran.
They got to their hut they told the others that the head
was rolling after them and to shut the door.
All the huts were closed tight.
When it got there the head commanded them to open the doors.
The owners would not open them because they were afraid.
So the head started to think what it would turn into.
If it turned into water they would drink it.
If it turned into earth they would walk on it.
If it turned into a house they would live in it.
If it turned into a steer they would kill it and eat it.
If it turned into a cow they would milk it.
If it turned into a bean they would cook it.
If it turned into the sun
When men were cold it would heat them.
If it turned into rain the grass would grow and the
animals would crop it.
So it thought, and it said, "I will turn into the moon."
It called, "Open the doors, I want to get my things."
They would not open them.
The head cried. It called out, "At least give me
my two balls of twine."
They threw out the two balls of twine through a hole.
It took them and threw them into the sky.
It asked them to throw it a little stick too
to roll the thread around so it could climb up.
Then it said, "I can climb, I am going to the sky."
It started to climb.
The men opened the doors right away.
The head went on climbing.
The men shouted, "You going to the sky, head?"
It didn't answer.
As soon as it got to the Sun
it turned into the Moon.
Toward evening the Moon was white, it was beautiful.
And the men were surprised
to see that the head had turned into the Moon.
Ghost Behind My Eyes
There is person living in my head
She comes to visit every night in bed
I fight the demon, but it just wont fall
The voices in my dungeon starting to call
The spiders dancing on the wall
Suicide of love we could have had it all
And it is you, you are the ghost behind my eyes
The ghost that tells me lies
The princess of the dark has made my mind home
My haunted head and her wont leave me alone
She dances on my heart with fire in my soul
I hate that feeling when Im loosing control
The spiders dancing on the wall
Suicide of love we could have had it all
And it is you, you are the ghost behind my eyes
The ghost that tells me lies
I wish to God that I could sleep
Again, oh peace again
And wake up from this nightmare
Free again
Free again, oh me again
There is a woman in my head
She comes to visit every night in bed
The spiders dancing on the wall
Suicide of love we could have had it all
And it is you, you are the ghost behind my eyes
You, you are the ghost behind my eyes
You, you are the ghost behind my eyes
Behind my eyes
The ghost behind my eyes
song performed by by Ozzy Osbourne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Grave that I Dug for You!
It was three o'clock in the morning
On the final day of spring,
I was stuck in a hole in the graveyard
Of Saint Matthews, Nether Ling,
I like to dig them at nightfall when
The folk are home, in bed,
Not wandering round the churchyard
Making a racket, waking the dead!
It's creepy enough as it is, whenever
The Moon sails over the church,
And shines its beams on the headstones
Of Jack Dervish, or Bill Burch,
Of mad old Widow Maloney, who,
The stories do abound,
Was carried kicking and screaming
In her coffin, and put in the ground.
My job is a labour of love, I've lived
In this village, all my life,
I know each one who lives here, every
Mistress, husband and wife,
Whenever I dig a grave, I know
Exactly who it's for,
And shed the bitter, parting tear
For the ones who go before.
I've even dug for my own, my
Darling mother, and my dad,
They left on that last long journey when
I was but still a lad,
The Vicar made me the Sexton, so
That I could earn my keep,
Living alone in the cottage, ghosts
Would haunt me in my sleep.
I often manage an extra grave,
That I dig by the iron fence,
All overhung with the creepers, that
I buy, for Peter's Pence,
They're there for the poor and needy who
Can't manage a burial fee,
So I carry the bodies at midnight, drop
Them in, all buried for free!
I always attend the services,
And stand right up at the back,
And that's where I first saw Caroline,
My love, my Caroline Black,
She went to her brother's funeral
With veil, and covered in lace,
But the wind blew up as she left, and then
I saw sweet Caroline's face.
I fell; I saw and was smitten,
She had given me half a smile,
I felt so bold as to ask her if
I could walk with her, for a while.
We went some way, she held my hand
And she looked me, square in the eye,
‘What would you say if I told you that
My mother's about to die? '
It seemed that her mother had cancer,
So she told me, with a tear,
They'd told her mother three months ago
She wouldn't live out the year,
She lived way up on the hillside there
In the mansion called ‘Beau Clair',
I thought that she must have money
But she said - ‘The cupboard is bare! '
The money they'd paid for the funeral
Of her brother had been the last,
Her father had gone some years ago,
And had left them little cash,
‘How will I bury my mother, ' Caroline
Cried, as women will do,
‘Now don't you fret, ' I assured her,
I have a grave I've dug for you! '
The mother died the following week,
The doctor had thought it strange,
He'd given the mother a bill of health
To last to a ripe old age,
The coroner was quite upset
When he found how the woman died,
It seemed the autopsy findings showed
Her full of insecticide.
The brother was raised at once, I know,
I dug him up in the night,
Surrounded by Sheriff's officers
Who carried a lantern light,
They found the same insecticide
Had seeped right into his bones,
And Caroline went on trial that day
In spite of her sobs, and moans.
I saw her once, right after the trial
When the judge put on his hat,
That little black square of portent
That had sentenced Caroline Black.
He'd said: ‘You shall be hanged by the neck,
Pray God for your soul to save,
Your crimes are the crimes of parricide,
They will follow you, into the grave! '
They let me into the holding cell
As she waited to be sent down,
So pale and brave now the deed was done
Though she kept her eyes on the ground.
‘If only…' I had begun to say,
But she stayed me: ‘What can you do? '
‘I can keep you warm, and comfortable,
In the grave that I dug for you! '
9 September 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Swan Song
Her hair was as black as a starling's tail,
Her cheeks as pale as a swan,
Her eyes, like two slim moonstones, glowed
And her mouth was the Holy Grail.
She'd played in the dirt of the village street
So long ago, so long...
She'd swum in the pools of the mountain stream,
But now, that girl had gone.
While I still rise with the early bird
To tend to my father's fields,
As the only son of an only son
I watched the woman leave.
She cried sweet tears as she said farewell
And vowed to come back, and soon,
But the village streets of a western town
Hold nothing for Ling Xiaodan.
The weeks went by, then the months and years
And I heard of her now and then,
She was dressed in expensive clothes, I heard,
She was driving a shiny car;
She was seen at the Beijing Opera
By a man who worked at the door,
'She glided by like a Queen, ' he said,
'As her dress trailed long on the floor.'
And her wai po, down in the village square
Would brag of her daughter's girl,
'She will snare some man with a million yuan, '
She said, 'not a farmer's son.
Go home to your fields and forget her now,
She's not for an also-ran! '
And laughed, as the tears sprang into my eyes
For the love of Ling Xiaodan.
She came back once to the village street
To her home, as ever we must,
But carefully held her dress up high
To avoid the rubbish and dust,
I stood at the side and she looked at me,
Then turned, looked quickly away,
For Ling Xiaodan and a farmer's son
Had nothing at all to say.
But I saw her once before she left,
Alone by the mountain stream,
Her eyes were sorrowful, in remorse,
Remembering how we'd been.
'I loved you once, as a child, ' she said
'But the world is harsh, and grey...
We do what our fathers want us to,
And my father sent me away.'
I sat by her then, and held her hand,
Stroking her neck, and hair,
And kissed the cheek, so pale and wan,
And I cried in a deep despair.
'You must get on with your life, ' she said,
'Get a wife and a baby son;
I leave tomorrow to see the man
That my father has met in town.'
I heard that she'd wed a businessman,
And cried in the quiet gloom,
My dream had died by the mountain stream,
On that day, in the afternoon.
She worked in a shop her husband owned,
So they said, but I never heard
'Til the body was brought back home again,
That the love of my life was dead.
It seemed that she'd sold her favours there
In the rear of a grimy store,
To any man with the change to spare
While her husband played Mah Jongg.
He'd gambled his fortune, and lost it all
While his wife kept the fool from jail
With what she earned with her hands and hair,
And a mouth like the Holy Grail.
But then, a man who was ill or mad
Put his grimy hands at her throat,
And squeezed the life from the darling neck
That I'd once both loved, and stroked.
They buried her up on the mountainside
By the stream, in sight of her home,
And from where I stand in the paddy fields
I can see her pale white stone.
She'd played in the dirt of the village street
So long ago, so long...
She'd swum in the pools of the mountain stream,
But now, that girl had gone.
I married a woman I barely knew
And she bore me a black-haired girl,
With eyes like two slim moonstones, and...
A mouth like the Holy Grail.
10 March 2006
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jack Ketch
I was only sixteen, when I was seduced
By a woman of thirty-three,
The Governor's wife at the Prisoner's Ball
And she offered to dance with me,
I blushed, I stammered, and hung my head
But she moved with a fluid grace,
She took my hand for the Colonel's Waltz,
And squeezed in a warm embrace.
I did the odd job at the prison then,
Just sweeping and cleaning the yard,
Carrying messages round each wing
But nothing you'd call too hard,
I'd sometimes go to the Governor's House
To help with the garden there,
And I'd see his wife, sweet Caroline,
As she sunned herself in a chair.
She would lie in that part of the garden
Shaded cool by an apple tree,
Reading a book in her cozy nook
Taking little account of me,
Or so I thought, 'til the day she sought
Me out at the Prisoner's Ball,
When she whispered things in my ear that night
And pinned me close to the wall.
I was just a boy, and she wanted a toy to
Play with when she was bored,
She egged me on in the garden shade
While I just felt overawed,
Then I heard that she was expecting, and
She cut me out of her life,
She played that part so wonderfully well,
The dutiful Governor's wife.
A boy was born in the early spring
And they christened him Billy Cole,
I wasn't allowed near a yard of him
And it ate deep into my soul,
I watched him grow from a distance then,
But she finally got me the sack,
She told the Governor I'd been spying
Whenever she lay on her back.
The years went by and I got me a trade,
But I lived right next to the Jail,
I'd watch them motor right by me then
And I felt myself turn pale,
They looked so fine in their motorcade,
With the windows wound right down,
My son grew tall by the prison wall
As the weeks and the years rolled round.
The hard times came, the hard times went,
I needed some extra pounds,
The government service advertised,
I applied, and they asked me round,
I must have done well in their questionnaire
For I got the job in the end,
They would call me, give me a time and place
And expect me to attend.
I didn't speak of my duties then,
It wasn't considered 'form',
It was only once in a purple moon
The official summons came,
I kept my secret and nobody asked,
I worked at my trade by day,
Then every so often the phone would ring:
'I'm sorry, I'm called away! '
For twenty years I held my peace,
But followed my Billy Cole,
I drank in the bars where he would drink,
Sat deep in a corner stall,
I watched him mixing in company
I'd have warned him of, if I could,
But whenever I plucked the courage up
My tongue would turn to wood.
I heard his name start cropping up
With a gang in the old East End,
His mouth had taken a surly look
And he seemed like he needed a friend,
But his eyes were hard as the hardest flint
And his cheek was scarred to the bone,
He carried a blade and a razor strop
So I left him well alone.
His mother, Caroline, sought him out
And begged him to go with her,
I heard him laugh in a quick retort:
'Go home to the Governor?
You must be mad, ' he told her then,
He's not been a father to me! '
And Caroline cried, and dabbed at her eyes
While I watched from under a tree.
I turned away - 'Too late, too late, '
I thought, 'if she'd only seen
That blood was thicker than water...'
But all that was a might-have-been.
The tears sprang as I walked away
And rolled at my cheek, undone;
The dye was cast and the lad was lost
Before I could find my tongue.
He killed a man in a brawl one day,
Over some cards that lied,
Was wrestled down to the floor and held
For the constable outside,
They took him down to the holding cells
And charged him there on the spot,
'It's Murder One, my lad, you'll need
All the guile that your lawyer's got.'
He went in front of the Bailey, where
The balance of justice stands,
The trial was over before he looked
On down at his trembling hands,
The Judge came back, put on the cap
So black, right over his head,
Delivered the dreaded few words that he heard,
And those were... 'hanged by the neck...'
I got to visit him only the once, down
Where the condemned man waits,
He scowled as I stood by the door, and said:
'Have you come with your measuring tapes? '
I said, 'No son, but I had to come,
To right a very old wrong...
By God in heaven, I'll tell you now -
I'm your father, and you're my son! '
I wept, he wept, and I left him there
To pay for his terrible crime,
And I... I took to my bed just then,
Pulled all the curtains and blinds,
A week, two weeks, I was woken then
With a summons, time and a place,
So I packed a bag in the early hours
Took up my travelling case.
At dawn, I walked through the prison yard
Was shown through the bars and gates,
I spread my gear in an empty cell,
And opened my travelling case,
They brought him down with the chaplain then
So brave, but a little sad,
As I pulled the hood down over his eyes,
I swear that he called me - 'Dad! '
24 September 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Karma
He looked down over the valley,
Over the verdant green and trees,
And suddenly felt so humbled
That he sighed, and fell to his knees,
He'd only been out a single day
With the world before him spread,
So still he could hear those prison gates
As they'd clanged behind, in his head.
He'd finished his twenty seven years
He'd paid society's due,
Locked in a cell of eight by ten
For the things that he'd had to do,
He'd shown no mercy to Annabel,
No more to the Widow Peak,
He'd drowned them, just as he meant to do
When they'd met, in less than a week.
He thrilled at the thought of their staring eyes
As he held them down in the bath,
Watching their lives leach out of them,
Just as he'd done with Kath,
There'd been so many, he'd not confessed
But been convicted for two,
The other ten would have got him life
Without reprieve, if they knew.
He went to live in the valley
Rented a cottage under the trees,
Owned by a man called Anderson
Who'd visited him for years,
He'd said he knew of a valley where
He could start his life again,
He'd said, ‘Now here is your second chance,
Back in the world of men! '
He wandered round in the cottage
Took in the bathroom at a glance,
Took in the nice deep marble tub
With a smirk and a rub of his hands,
The village was just a walk away
But he'd give it a day or two,
Then check for a widow or single girl
At the store, as he wandered through.
He spent the night reminiscing
Thinking of all those staring eyes,
Of Kristen Poole, that silly young fool
That he'd fed with outrageous lies,
Her mouth had flapped like a goldfish
As she fought in a bleak despair,
But nearly a foot of water lay
Between her face and the air.
And who was that girl, that Marigold,
That he'd met in the Shop ‘n Save?
He'd thought that her name was Sanderson,
She didn't know how to behave,
She'd said her brother looked out for her
Would interfere with her fun,
But once in a bath of water,
It would only be fun for one.
He lay and stared at the ceiling as
He felt quite suddenly cold,
The name of his mentor Anderson
Came creeping back to his soul,
He heard the rushing of water
Off in the distance, up on the heights,
And made his way to the village
Lying in darkness, deep in the night,
The cottages all were empty
So was the chapel, totally bare,
The door of the shop was open
Nothing but garbage left in there,
He turned and ran up the village street
But the thunder was hard at his heels,
When a wall of water, ten feet high
Rushed over the verdant fields.
They'd opened the sluices at the dam
To flood the Valley at night,
To turn it into a reservoir
For a city that lay nearby,
The villagers had been gone for a month
But they stood and they watched the tide,
Flooding their tiny cottages
While Anderson laughed, and cried!
11 November 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Fire
I was picking raspberries, my head was in the canes,
And he came behind and kissed me, and I smacked him for his pains.
Says he, 'You take it easy! That ain't the way to do!
I love you hot as fire, my girl, and you know you know it too.
So won't you name the day?'
But I said, 'That I will not.'
And I pushed him away,
Out among the raspberries all on a summer day.
And I says, 'You ask in winter, if your love's so hot,
For it's summer now, and sunny, and my hands is full,' says I,
'With the fair by and by,
And the village dance and all;
And the turkey poults is small,
And so's the ducks and chicks,
And the hay not yet in ricks,
And the flower-show'll be presently and hop-picking's to come,
And the fruiting and the harvest home,
And my new white gown to make, and the jam all to be done.
Can't you leave a girl alone?
Your love's too hot for me!
Can't you leave a girl be
Till the evenings do draw in,
Till the leaves be getting thin,
Till the fires be lighted early, and the curtains drawed for tea?
That's the time to do your courting, if you come a-courting me!'
* * *
And he took it as I said it, an' not as it was meant.
And he went.
* * *
The hay was stacked, the fruit was picked, the hops were dry and
brown,
And everything was garnered, and the year turned upside down,
And the winter it come on, and the fires were early lit,
And he'd never come anigh again, and all my life was sick.
And I was cold alone, with nought to do but sit
With my hands in my black lap, and hear the clock tick.
For father, he lay dead
With the candles at his head,
And his coffin was that black I could see it through the wall;
And I'd sent them all away,
Though they'd offered for to stay.
I wanted to be cold alone, and learn to bear it all.
Then I heard him. I'd a-known it for his footstep just as plain
If he'd brought his regiment with him up the rutty frozen lane.
And I hadn't drawed the curtains, and I see him through the pane;
And I jumped up in my blacks and I threw the door back wide.
Says I, 'You come inside;
For it's cold outside for you,
And it's cold here too;
And I haven't no more pride -
It's too cold for that,' I cried.
* * *
Then I saw in his face
The fear of death, and desire.
And oh, I took and kissed him again and again,
And I clipped him close and all,
In the winter, in the dusk, in the quiet house-place,
With the coffin lying black and full the other side the wall;
And 'YOU warm my heart,' I told him, 'if there's any fire in men!'
And he got his two arms round me, and I felt the fire then.
And I warmed my heart at the fire.
poem by Edith Nesbit
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Must Have Been Sleeping
'Where are you going, ' I heard her say
As the dream took me straight to the core,
We parked at the side of a very long road
And I got out the driver's door;
'I've never known that, ' I replied, and she sat
On her hands, with the pain of surprise,
'So what you've been saying has never been true! '
The tears rose up in her eyes!
'The road has been long, the road has been wide,
I never knew where I could turn.'
'I thought you were happy with me, ' she said;
There was nothing to say in return.
'I must have been sleeping for seventeen years, '
My voice sounded foreign and coarse,
But I couldn't handle the sighs and the lies,
Or the terrible sound of - 'divorce! '
I walked to the wood at the side of the road,
And followed the pathway around,
I couldn't look back now I'd made up my mind
Though I walked unfamiliar ground,
The clearing was quiet, the birds didn't sing,
A mountain rose up in my view,
I suddenly saw there was no going back
To the comfortable life that I knew.
I cast off my shackles and took a deep breath,
To breathe in both freedom and pride,
My strength was returning, and clearer my eye,
I walked with a bounce in my stride,
The years fell away, I was thirty again,
I stopped then, and sat on a stone,
For darkness was gathering there in the gloom
With that terrible feeling - alone!
I thought of the woman I'd left on the road,
Who'd always been faithful to me,
The tears that she'd shed for a love that was dead
Made me sad, and ashamed to be free,
I thought of the comfort she'd given me when
All my world started going insane,
She'd cooked and she'd cared, and she'd loved and she'd shared
And I'd given her nothing but pain.
I turned on the track, and I made my way back
But I couldn't see where I had been,
I stumbled through thickets and walked into trees
And I fell on my knees on the green.
'I am lost, I am lost, ' I cried into the night
Then I heard her voice, dim, by a tree
And woke to her stroking my face and my brow
As I cried… She was waiting for me!
9 March 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Cheated Death.
Suddenly all went cold
And of my mother's hand I took hold
I held on like a drowning man would a lifeline
For I knew this might be the end of my timeline
And there in the corner he stood
Bright silvery robes, a golden cord around his waist, there he stood
Shoulder length hair as golden as the sun's rays
Eyes bluer than the Caspian, bronze skin that hath no flaws
His feet shod in sandals
His presence brightened the candles
I felt a hope build inside
A fire rekindled inside
But as quickly as it came
The hope left and with it the fear came
As I looked in horror to the other corner
There she stood, crowned by darkness in the left corner
Her eyes the colour of blood
In a black robe of death she was clad
As I focused on her, I felt the life leave me
Just as the anaconda squeezes the life out of its prey, the life left me
The odour of burning Sulphur filled the room
And with it an impeding gloom
I squeezed my mother's hand ‘til it hurt
Every breath I took hurt
I tried to tell my mother I loved her
But all that came out was a croak
Slowly the woman in the left corner removed her cloak
Revealing a crown of long fiery hair
Her eyes fixed on me in an evil stare
Her blood red lips parted in a smile
A smile so evil it shouldn't be called a smile
I turned to the other corner seeking comfort from my angel and this evil evade
But woe unto me he had slowly began to fade
And with him, the light
Impeding my sight
I felt my body consumed by a cloud of darkness
And at that moment, I felt the presence of death in the darkness
Funny how in the movies they tell you to stay away from the light
How I longed to see a light
For I knew the darkness would only lead to more pain
I shut my eyes hoping that when I opened them again
My angel would be there telling me it's alright
Bringing back hope and light
But lo and behold as I re-opened mine eyes
There I lay, in my hospital bed my mother looking on with wet eyes
She told of how I almost died
Of how my breathing stopped but her hope never died
I sat up in wonder looked to the right and there my angel stood
In fear, I turned to the left, and she too in her shroud of evil, stood
Her eyes blazing with anger
For death had been cheated and left with a deep hunger
And I knew, she would be back
And then it struck me,
Death never leaves empty handed
That's when I saw the nurses covering the old woman's body across
With a white sheet and a priest making the sign of a cross
Once again, death did reap
And it is inevitable that she will return to reap
Her taste of fruit, the unripe fruit...
poem by Esperanza Chilupula
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Woman Goin Crazy On Caroline Street
By: jimmy buffett, steve goodman
1975
Chorus:
Theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet
Sayin if youll be gentle if youll be sweet
Ill show you my place on caroline street
She claimed in a loud voice to be a dancer
But I dont think shes cut a rug in years
Listens to the jukebox for her answers
Slowly guzzles twenty-five cent beers
Talks about the men shes known and then some
Shes seen them in her dreams and on the street
She slides her dapper legs from beneath the table
As if to reveal some kind of treat
Chorus:
Theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet
Sayin if youll be gentle if youll be sweet
Ill show you my place on caroline street
Her lover left her stranded in jamaica
Just right now she cant recall his name
Perceiving shes the center of attention
And all the lurking eyes they look the same
Weathers got the shrimpers in a frenzy
Theyre horny and dont need a good excuse
Someone yells and things just start erupting
And in a flash all hell has broken loose
Chorus:
Theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet
Sayin if youll be gentle if youll be sweet
Ill show you my place on caroline street
(instrumental)
When I woke up and looked around the barroom
She was gone and I was black and blue
So be careful when you go to swing your partner
Someone just might take a swing at you
Chorus:
Theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet
Sayin if youll be gentle if youll be sweet
Ill show you my place on caroline street
Ya theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet
Sayin if youll be gentle if youll be sweet
Ill show you my place on caroline street
Theres a woman goin crazy on caroline street
Stoppin every man that she does meet ...
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Reckoning
My mother was carried to heaven
On the day that I turned six,
She died of tuberculosis
Spitting blood in a coughing fit,
She'd been so ill for a long long time
That I couldn't recall her smile,
My father, he just grumbled, said:
'Your Ma will be gone for a while.'
'She's gone to sing in a choir up there,
Who knows how long she will be? '
But I saw the coffin that carried her out,
The hearse and the burial tree,
I watched as it sank down into the ground
And my father just left it there,
Went off to visit my 'aunt', he said,
A woman with long, blond hair.
I stayed at home, such a lonely child,
And went to a place in my head,
Where mother was fit and without a care
She laughed at the things I said,
My father left me alone a lot
So mother would tell me, 'Shush! '
We'd laugh and giggle when he went out
But talk in a sort of hush.
I played outside at other times
Where the grass grew long and wild,
I'd catch the skinks as they darted past,
I was always a curious child,
I'd bring the Sleepy Lizards home,
My father didn't mind,
He said I could keep the pets I caught,
I thought he was being kind.
But then one day he came on home
With this 'aunt', who moved right in,
He said they were married now, so I
Should call her 'Mum', not Jen.
I scowled, and went to my room to cry,
My mother was looking sad,
She said, 'just do what your father says,
I'm your Mother, but he's your Dad.'
This Jenny, she was all right at first
She tried to make me smile,
But I was feeling rebellious then,
And turned my back for a while,
I kept my rabbits and guinea pigs
And fed them out in their hutch,
But Jenny came out to look at them,
And she didn't like them much.
I knew, she wrinkled her powdered nose
And said, 'Oh pew! They stink!
We'll have to find you a hobby, one
That's pure and clean, I think.'
I heard her talking to father, say
That she thought I was rather slow,
She wanted the garden tidied up
So my animals had to go.
It was just about that time, I think
That my mother said goodbye,
She couldn't stay in that house, she said,
It was time for her to fly,
She left me alone in a great big world
So I brought a Lizard inside,
And put it under my bedclothes
Thought it a perfect place to hide.
When Jenny made the bed, she screamed
And shook me like a rag,
She went and got a kitchen knife
And a plastic shopping bag,
She made me put the Lizard in
Then she took the bag outside,
And stabbed and stabbed 'til the Lizard bled,
'Til my Lizard friend had died.
'Now bury it! ' she said to me,
'And don't you ever dare
Bring filthy animals into this house,
For if you do, I swear...'
At this she put the knife to my throat
And stood and watched me scream,
I saw the hate in her powdered face
It was like an awful dream!
Whenever my father left the house
She'd always scream and shout,
Knock me around for the slightest thing
Then drag me, throw me out,
Lock the door so I couldn't get in
And give me nothing to eat,
She said if I told my Dad on her
It would only get me beat.
She killed my rabbits, cooked them up
And served them from a pot,
She gave me a crooked, evil grin:
'You'd better eat the lot! '
I found myself in a black, black rage
Inside, at the things she'd done,
And hoped that my father would go on out
And buy himself a gun.
He never knew what she did to me,
I never would dare to say,
I knew that she'd get me on my own
And then there'd be hell to pay,
So I stayed outside in the barren fields
And found me a hessian sack,
Then went for a hunt with a long, forked stick,
It was time to get her back!
I waited until he'd gone away,
Was gone two days or more,
Then bit my tongue as she raved at me,
Spat hate from the kitchen door,
The morning came, and there wasn't a sound
To come from that angry head,
And I will never regret the day
I put a snake in her bed.
10 March 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Dance Of Death
Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
'bout a thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
I'd one drink but no more
I was rambling, enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move
Feeling scared and I fell to my knees
As something rushed me from the trees
Took me to an unholy place
And that is where I fell from grace
Then they summoned me over to join in with them
To the dance of the dead
In to the circle of fire I followed them
In to the middle I was led
As if time had stopped still I was numb with fear
But still I wanted to go
And the blaze of the fire did no hurt upon me
As I walked onto the coals
And I felt I was in a trance
And my spirit was lifted from me
And if only someone had the chance
To witness what happened to me
And I danced and I pranced and I sang with them
All had death in their eyes
Lifeless figures they were undead all of them
They had ascended from hell
As I danced with the dead
my free spirit was laughing and howling down at me
Below my undead body just danced the circle of dead
Until the time came to reunite us both
My spirit came back down to me
I didn't know if I was alive or dead
As the others, all joined in with me
By luck then a skirmish started
And took the attention away from me
When they took their gaze from me
Was the moment that I fled
I ran like hell faster than the wind
But behind I did not glance
One thing that I did not dare
Was to look just straight ahead
When you know that your time has come around
You know you'll be prepared for it
Say your last goodbyes to everyone
Drink and say a prayer for it
When you're lying in your sleep, when you're lying in your bed
And you wake from your dreams to go dancing with the dead
When you're lying in your sleep, when you're lying in your bed
And you wake from your dreams to go dancing with the dead
To this day I guess I'll never know
Just why they let me go
But I'll never go dancing no more
'Til I dance with the dead
song performed by by Iron Maiden
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Every Attribute You Have Has Been Bought
When I met you in that darkened room,
I just didn't realise,
That all I'd feel was heartbreak and gloom,
For peering into those eyes.
You looked just like a beauty queen,
Standing seductively over the bar,
The most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen,
A glistening beautiful star.
I may have had too much to drink,
But that didn't spoil my view,
In fact it inspired me to think,
My desire was to be with you.
How could a guy be so lucky in love,
It must be my ability to disarm,
What I'm seeing is a gift from above,
Full of good looks and charm.
At that point I seen my future laid out,
We would never again be apart,
I knew it was love so I let out a shout,
You have taken over my heart.
How could a guy be so lucky in life,
Meeting someone as beautiful as you,
Instantly I knew that she'd be my wife,
That would be done without further ado.
She would make me a perfect partner,
The drink must have given me that thought,
In the darkness I told her, you're perfect,
A body like yours can't be bought
I asked her if she'd share some time with me,
She didn't even put up a fight,
When she came over and said, yes I'm free.
I knew then I'd done something right.
We both laughed and danced the night away,
I knew we were made for each other,
Very soon I knew I would say,
I'd love you to meet my Mother.
At the end of the night I asked her home,
Surprisingly my beauty said yes,
I went to the mens room for a wash and a comb,
What came next was anyone's guess.
We went back to her flat instead of mine,
At the time I just didn't ask why,
The way she looked had me on cloud nine,
Just the thought of it all made me cry.
She wouldn't allow me to turn on the light,
Of her reasons I just wasn't aware,
If I had I'd probably have died of fright,
But at the time I just didn't care.
We then made out in every room,
Exhausted we both fell asleep,
We knew next day our passion would resume,
That was a promise we'd keep.
You were to be my future partner in crime,
My beauty I'd finally caught,
The angels were ensuring I had a good time,
A body like yours can't be bought.
Next day off came the wig and eyelashes,
Her make up and then her false teeth,
The daylight exposed all her rashes,
All this while I'm lying underneath.
She told me she was going to powder her nose,
Doing my make up just never fails,
I thought what else can this lady expose,
As I sat on her pack of false nails.
The botox was wearing off at this point,
Her wrinkles were there to be seen,
I said to myself, I'm out of this joint,
In truth I'm no longer so keen.
At this point the implants fell out of her chest,
They were splattered all over the floor,
I thought my God that's what I caressed,
At that point I made for the door.
She asked me for one more lingering kiss,
Like the one I had given her last night,
I said sorry darling but I'll give that a miss,
In sobriety you've given me a fright.
This story is told straight from the heart,
Be happy with what God's given you,
Or very soon you'll be falling apart,
It's your surgeon you'll be wanting to sue.
I knew then I'd made a major gaffe,
It made me feel really distraught,
She said lets make out, I said you're having a laugh,
‘' Every Attribute You Have Has Been Bought‘'
Women In Uniform
Beehive hairdo, 45 on the hip
Patrolwoman Saunders, don't you give her no whip
Took me to the station for a breathtest
then back to the bedroom for some house-arrest
[Chorus:]
Women in uniform, sometimes they look so cold
Women in uniform, but, Oh! They feel so warm
Coming back to London on a 747
Stewardess made me feel like I'm in heaven
Looking up the aisle to see what I could see
She leaned over said; Give it to me
White apron, brown leather shoes
The nurse at the clinic left my heart all bruised
Gave me a massage, sprained my right
Now she takes my temperature every night
[Chorus]
Women in uniform, Women in uniform
Women in uniform, Women in uniform
Commando raid on the Lebanese border
Sergeant Anita, she gives the order
Khaki jacket and a love gun
Baby, I surrender, let's have some fun
[Chorus]
[Solo]
[Chorus]
Women in uniform, Women in uniform
Women in uniform, Women in uniform
Women in uniform, Khaki, white and blue
Women in uniform, coming after you
Women, women, Women in uniform
Women, women, Women in uniform
[Chorus]
song performed by by Iron Maiden
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Pearls of Verna Boone
I'd been alone for a year or so
Since Norma Jean had died,
I stayed in the house I'd bought for her
At the end of River Drive,
I'd felt her death as a fatal blow,
A crippling twist of fate,
For Norma Jean was my one true love,
Though I'd met her a little late!
I was past my prime when our eyes had met,
And she'd looked so young to me,
Her eyes had sparkled like diamonds set
As scarabs in sand and sea,
She saw the desert behind my eyes,
The emptiness in my life,
I stumbled over the words, but she
Said 'Yes! ' - She would be my wife!
I didn't know that she carried then
The seeds of a painful death,
Her face was flushed at the altar stone
And she seemed so short of breath,
I thought it merely a passing faint
That excitement had brought on,
As we stood in front of the Minister,
And joined our lives as one.
But then at home, she fell apart,
Collapsed on the kitchen floor,
I saw her lying, and coughing blood
Like I'd never seen before,
The doctor called, and he shook his head
As he left her there in the bed,
'I'm very sorry, ' the doctor sighed,
'But your lovely wife is dead! '
I cried and raged, and swore at fate
I smashed each wedding gift,
I wouldn't go to the funeral
But stayed at home and wept.
I cursed the heavens and thought that hell
Could never have been as bad
As a love that I'd waited a lifetime for,
A love that I'd never had!
The house next door was a rental place,
Stood empty for months that year,
But then a couple had moved on in,
I didn't see him, just her.
I thought that he was a traveller,
Was constantly on the road,
He came at night, and he left at dawn
In a battered and ancient Ford.
I had no reason to talk to them,
I sat at home with my grief,
I wandered out in the garden then
At one with each falling leaf,
But then one day, I heard her there
The other side of the fence,
Breaking her heart, as crying there
She sobbed with vehemence.
After a week of this, I climbed
The fence, and spoke to her,
'Why do you sigh, why do you cry? '
But she cried then all the more.
I walked around and sat with her
Quite late in the afternoon,
She smiled, and dried her eyes, and said,
'My name is Verna Boone! '
She said she'd only been married
Just a year this coming Spring,
But now that she knew the man he was,
Regretted everything,
He'd lost her money, just gambled it,
Had spent it on other girls,
And now they were left with nothing, he
Just wanted her mother's pearls!
'They're all I have to remember her, '
She sobbed, like a frightened child,
'They're worth a lot, but they're more to me, '
She looked at me, and smiled.
She took me inside and pulled them out
Three strings, they were very fine,
'He said that he's going to pawn them! '
Then she put her small hand in mine.
I was sad, alone and vulnerable,
I looked at her lovely curls,
She smiled at me, and she asked me then
If I'd care for her mother's pearls?
'I'll say they're lost, misplaced, I'll say,
He'll rant and rage, and more,
But he won't be able to pawn them now...'
Then she walked me to the door.
I took her home, and I placed the pearls
With the gems my wife had once:
'They'll be all right in the downstairs safe.'
It was then that she saw the gun.
She looked afraid, but she picked it up
And weighed it there in her hand,
I took it gently and locked it up
With the rest of my contraband.
'She must have watched as I spun the dial,
I know - I was such a fool! '
The sergeant sat and he stared at me,
And his stare was distant, cool.
He didn't believe a word I said
I could see that now, I'm done!
They put me back in a cell to wait
To be charged with Murder One!
She told them I had come over when
Her husband came home one night,
Waving a gun and ranting, then
Her husband put up a fight!
I'd shot him once through the head, she said,
Then taken her on the bed,
Stolen a fine pearl necklace,
Then beaten and left her for dead!
They found the gun on the floor, they said,
I knew that the gun was mine,
They found the pearls in my safe, they said,
It was only a question of time.
She sat at the back of the court while I
Was stood in the prisoner's dock,
And I noticed she wore her mother's pearls
With a nice new evening frock.
10 August 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Widdershins
Edgar woke as the bedside clock
Chimed in with a spate of news,
The Greens were jumping through hoops again
At the culling of Kangaroos,
The Greeks were rioting in the streets
Cut off from their Euro links,
In Egypt, there was a vague report
Of a Spaceship, over the Sphinx!
He yawned, rolled over to kiss his wife
Fell onto the bedroom floor,
He'd always slept on the right of the bed
But not on the left before!
He staggered over and pulled the blinds,
The sun streamed into the room,
He frowned, it never shone round this side
‘Til late in the afternoon!
His wife raced out of the bathroom, slipped
A comb through her auburn hair,
‘You're going to be late for work again! '
He scratched at his head, and stared.
‘It's Saturday morning, June, ' he said,
‘It's Thursday, ' she replied,
‘Don't you remember Friday night?
Just check the TV Guide! '
She poured his drink from the coffee pot,
He'd always favoured tea,
The sun was a-rising in the West
In a pure absurdity,
He caught the bus that he'd always caught
But it went the other way,
Instead of a route through city streets
It dropped him, down at the Bay.
He called at the Bay Newsagent
But they hadn't a paper there,
They only had one from Friday night
It was called, ‘The Evening Star.'
‘What day is it? ' he asked the man
Who gave him a funny look,
‘Wha' da ya think, it's Thursday;
Now go off, and sling yer ‘ook! '
He wandered along the promenade
And he found a handy bar,
He needed a drink to calm him down
From the jitters he'd felt so far:
‘Just give me a Beam & Coke, ' he said
To the Barman's steely glare,
Who poured him a Bloody Mary
So he turned and he left it there.
Over and by the Harbour wall
An old man sat in glee,
He said, ‘Now I've been a fisherman
Since nineteen fifty three,
I've never seen tides that turn like this
A high come in on a high…'
The sea crashed over the Harbour wall
As the old man let out a sigh!
Edgar pricked up his ears and said:
‘So you have noticed it too!
I thought that I was the crazy one,
The world's turned into a zoo! '
‘Have ever you heard of Widdershins?
I mind it happened before…'
But the old man wouldn't be drawn again,
Just stared at the further shore!
Edgar managed to get back home
As the clock was striking six,
The news was due to be following on
From the kids Ventriloquist,
And the bulletin they read that night
Said the Spaceship seemed to have left,
Had winked its lights as it took to flight,
While the sun sank in the West!
20 June 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Roller Derby Queen
Gonna tell you a story that you wont believe
But I fell in love last friday evenin
With a girl I saw on a bar room t.v. screen
Well I was just gettin ready to get my hat
When she caught my eye and I put it back
And I ordered myself a couple o more shots and beers
The night that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena
She was five foot six and two fifteen
A bleached-blonde mama
With a streak of mean
She knew how to knuckle
And she knew how to scuffle and fight
And the roller derby program said
That she was built like a fridgerator with a head
Her fans call her tuffy
But all her buddies called her spike
You know that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round
Well I could not help it
But to fall in love
With this heavy-duty woman
I been speakin of
Things looked kind of bad
Until the day she skated into my life
Well she might be nasty
She might be fat
But I never met a person
Who would tell her that
Shes my big blonde bomber
My heavy handed hackensack mama
You know that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round
song performed by by Jim Croce
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Poor Ghost
'Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me,
With your golden hair all fallen below your knee,
And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea,
And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?'
'From the other world I come back to you,
My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew.
You know the old, whilst I know the new:
But to-morrow you shall know this too.'
'Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray;
Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away:
Here I feel warm and well-content and gay:
Give me another year, another day.'
'Am I so changed in a day and a night
That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright,
Is fain to turn away to left or right
And cover up his eyes from the sight?'
'Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend,
I loved you for life, but life has an end;
Through sickness I was ready to tend:
But death mars all, which we cannot mend.
'Indeed I loved you; I love you yet,
If you will stay where your bed is set,
Where I have planted a violet,
Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.'
'Life is gone, then love too is gone,
It was a reed that I leant upon:
Never doubt I will leave you alone
And not wake you rattling bone with bone.
'I go home alone to my bed,
Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head,
Roofed in with a load of lead,
Warm enough for the forgotten dead.
'But why did your tears soak through the clay,
And why did your sobs wake me where I lay?
I was away, far enough away:
Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.'
poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Scarlet Fever
I stood outside the Lucky Star
Staring at the flashing sign
It read: come on in and watch young
Scarlet's body come alive
Let her dance for you and catch your spell
You'll swear you can believe her
Be careful not to catch the scarlet fever.
So I paid my fare and walked down front
And found an empty chair
As I settled in young scarlet took the ribbons from her hair
The moves her body made while the music played
Were the likes I've never seen
And she became the envy of my dreams.
One by one her teasing movements
Brought the crowd out of their seats
And all at once young scarlet
Danced straight up in front of me
From the moment that her eyes found mine
I've never been the same
Scarlet locked another heart upon her chain.
Now I get scarlet fever every time I see her
But she's a night club teaser
Not paid to notice me
Yes, I get scarlet fever
If she knew how much I need her
She'd place her hand in my hand
And dance away with me.
She looked 25 but I was told
That she was just 16
She had a way of making a man believe
She danced for only him
As she tantalized I fantasized
And felt the sound of my heart beat
And every night I'd dream
She'd fall in love with me.
Then one night while driving in
My eyes begun to tear
'Cause the sign outside the Lucky Star
Said: scarlet isn't here
She'd left that day to find a life
Of bigger and better things
And she left behind my chain of broken dreams.
But still get scarlet fever
In my mind I still see her
Out there dancing somewhere
To another fool like me.
Yes, I get scarlet fever every time I see her
But she's a night club teaser
Not paid to notice me
Yes, I get scarlet fever
If she knew how much I need her
She'd place her hand in my hand
And dance away with me...
song performed by by Kenny Rogers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Left To My Own Devices (disco Mix)
I get out of bed at half past ten
Phone up a friend, who's a party animal
Turn on the news and drink some tea
Maybe if you're with me we'll do some shopping
One day I'll read, or learn to drive a car
If you pass the test, you can beat the rest
But I don't like to compete, or talk street, street, street
I can pick up the best from the party animal
I could leave you, say goodbye
Or I could love you, if I try
And I could
And left to my own devices, I probably would
Pick up a brochure about the sun
Learn to ignore what the photographer saw
I was always told that you should join a club
Stick with the gang, if you want to belong
I was a lonely boy, no strength, no joy
In a world of my own at the back of the garden
I didn't want to compete, or play out on the street
For in a secret life I was a round head general
I could leave you, say goodbye
Or I could love you, if I try
And I could
And left to my own devices, I probably would
Left to my own devices, I probably would
Oh, I would
I was faced with a choice at a difficult age
Would I write a book? Or should I take to the stage?
But in the back of my head I heard distant feet
Che Guevara and Dbussy to a disco beat
It's not a crime when you look the way you do
The way I like to picture you
When I get home, it's late at night
I pour a drink and watch the fight
Turn off the TV, look at a book
Pick up the phone, fix some food
Maybe I'll sit up all night and day
Waiting for the minute I hear you say
I could leave you, say goodbye
Or I could love you, if I try
And I could
And left to my own devices, I probably would
Come on, baby, say goodbye
Or I could love you, if I try
And I could
And left to my own devices, I probably would
Left to my own devices, I probably would
(Come on baby)
Left to my own devices, I probably would
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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