Eternal Youth

Be careful what you wish for...

I was travelling through a countryside

That I’d never seen before,

As it grew dark, the mountainsides

Loomed threatening, over my car,

The cloud hung low in a louring sky

And my headlights cut through the gloom,

Ahead on the twisting, bending road

I had hopes of a cosy room.

 

There wasn’t a house or a farm out there,

The valley was threading down,

The deeper it went, the darker yet

With still no sign of a town,

I thought that I’d have to drive all night

And my eyes were growing dim,

When back in the trees, I saw a light

And a sign: ‘The Dew Drop Inn’.

 

I pulled at the bell for the Publican

And I heard a shuffle inside,

A shadow loomed, and the hinges creaked

And the door swung open wide,

A man so gaunt that his face was grey

And his sallow cheeks were thin,

Stood trembling in the doorway there

In the hall of the Dew Drop Inn!’

 

I followed him in, not saying a word,

He motioned me into the bar,

Then poured me a whiskey and water

While I stared at a glass topped jar,

It drew my gaze as I sipped my drink

For the contents bubbled and swirled,

And I said: ‘Just where is the Dew Drop Inn?’

He replied: ‘At the End of the World!’

 

His voice came bubbling out of his chest

Like the rasp of a rusty saw,

His hands were trembling, where they lay

And he kept his eyes on the door.

‘That jar, it changes its colours, look!

From red, through green and gold…’

He said: ‘They told me one sip from that

And a man would never grow old!’

 

I stared at him, and I saw him frown

With a tear at the edge of his eye,

This ancient man with the trembling hand

And I said: ‘Well, that was a lie!’

He shook his head and he turned to me

‘It depends what you want it for,

I was twenty-two when I took my sip…

I’m a hundred and sixty four!’

 

‘I didn’t age for a hundred years

I revelled in youth, so long,

But suddenly I grew weary, thought

That there must have been something wrong!

I lost the zest for a youthful life,

Was beginning to feel my years,

All of my friends were dead and gone,

This life is a valley of tears!’

 

‘You’re telling me that one sip from this

Will give me a hundred - True?

I’ll still be fit and I’ll still be strong,

At a hundred and thirty two?’

‘You will, but there’s a condition

You must take on the Dew Drop Inn,

And stay in this cursèd valley then

‘Til a seeker of youth walks in!’

 

I’m standing behind the counter with

My eyes on the outer door,

I’ve stood like stone for forty years

And paced a track on the floor,

The Publican left, the moment I sipped

He went with a joyous cry,

In search of a path from the Dew Drop Inn

Where at last, he could finally die!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Kaa Na Kalyanasundaram]

A great write. I learned many from your poem. Thanking U for sharing.

[G. Marie"floating on an..]

Interesting read. No one really wants to live that long... it would be too painful to watch all of your loved ones that have gone and left you behind..... the worst fate ever would be to live forever with the same body...... ugggh at the thought.....

[Joanna Maharis]

This is such a beautiful narrative. Just captivating. I was enthralled throughout the duration of time it took me to read this mangificent piece.

[Alicia Schroeder]

Beyond amazing, a fabulous peice of work.. I actually lived near a bar called the dew drop in.. It is fasinating that some of the things you wrote about in your poem relate to youthfulness, I've watched my friends parents practically live at this bar and now their children fallow in there footsteps.. It was a fabulous read and reminded me about something totally differant, but wonderful anyway :)

[Alex Davis]

The really sad yet true bit about this piece is not that things come with price, it is that we, as humans, almost inevitably shoot ourselves in the foot in the chase of things we ought not to have. Masterfully done, good work!

[Zainab UF]

A wonderful poem that proclaims that immortality has its price! Thanks for gifting me a poem to remember! :)

[Fréyjä Helv..]

Beautiful poem. Interesting the story of it though. I love how the climax always pops up at the end... You sure do play it well with rhymes... Brilliant work Sir...

[Admiral Kirk]

This is a magnificent poem, with an excellent feeling given to it by the steady beat and constant rhyme. I like the lesson it teaches, and the way it teaches it. This was wonderful to read, and I can feel the work put into it. It was obviously well-thought out because it is so fantastically written. I noticed that you wrote 'cosy', and I have always seen it as 'cozy', but I suppose words are spelled differently in different parts of the world. Excellent poem!

[poeticpiers]

Another morality tale from your accomplished quill David
The only thing worse than not getting your wish fulfilled is getting it fulfilled with strings attached.
I look forward to you writings a little enviously I confess. ivor