Flawed Fidelity

‘Life is a great disappointment,’ mused

The sailor on the quay,

And he sighed again, and frowned, and then

Looked sadly out to sea,

‘We start by thinking it wonderful

With a whole wide world out there,

But the world is thin, and it hems you in

If you have no love to share!’

 

The man he’d met on the promenade

Stood silent by his side,

The sun dipped into the ocean on

Its slow but stately ride,

The Moon, the queen of the evening rose

To light the Milky Way,

‘I shouldn’t have gone to sea, but then

She’d have left me anyway!’

 

The man in the cheap and shoddy suit

Had nodded in the gloom,

His thoughts were locked in the high rise block,

That he’d left that afternoon,

She’d pushed him out on the balcony

Still dressed in her negligée,

‘You’d better not come around again,

He’s coming home today!’

 

‘I thought I could go and roam, while she

Sat patient, waited here,

The love in her eyes had gone, when I

Came back, the following year,

We muddled along for two more years,

She couldn’t look in my eyes,

When I asked her who she was seeing

All I got was a pack of lies!’

 

The man in the cheap and shoddy suit

Thought of his wife at home,

He’d told her about some meeting, but

He’d wandered the streets alone,

Hoping she’d keep their rendezvous

Continue their brief affair,

And he thought of her long and shapely legs

And the fragrance of her hair.

 

‘Marriage can be a terrible bind,

We think it will last for life,’

He said to the sailor, dredging up

Some thoughts of his faithful wife,

‘But wives get dull with the passing years

And they lose that vital spark,

So a man must find a lover…’

They both nodded, in the dark.

 

‘I said that I’d meet her here, at six,’

He checked his watch again,

‘She said to stay, she would get away

If she could, by half past seven.’

‘Mine should be any moment now,

Her man has gone for the night,

She says that she’s dull and bored at home,

But she’s feisty, and she’s bright!’

 

They parted then at the quay, each walked

Some way, then stood in the glow,

Of a dimly lit street standard

Lighting the sombre street below,

Then a woman walked up to the sailor,

Gave him kisses, long and deep,

While the man in the cheap and shoddy suit

Went pale, and began to weep!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Excellent plot, written in a rythmic musical voice, captured me from the first line.
The ending was unexpected and deliciously perfect, based on human frailities in marital boredom and betrayal.

'...Then a woman walked up to the sailor, Gave him kisses, long and deep, While the man in the cheap and shoddy suit Went pale, and began to weep!'

Or, be careful what you ask for since you just might get it...

A wonderful read, full of twists-love your style immensely, sir.
~pat

[Tate Morgan]

Yeah oh that hurts to read I imagine for some.There is so much of the human condition in this.The only ones who can roam are those of us without a home .

[spiritwind]

Master Storyteller in Verse Form. That seems to be a lost art these days but you keep it alive and well. Your lines are rhythmical and sure, guiding us down the road to the destination you chose. Your story is as old as man but fresh in your handling. There's a sympathy for your characters, faulty in their fragility. Absolutely relax into your story-poems knowing I will be given a good-read full measure. Thank you, Mr. Paget.

[Marie]

But who kissed the sailor...his fiesty mistress or his dull wife...?

[MOON]

Wonderfully written love and betrayal.

[Lisa Ring]

I love irony. A brilliantly written piece; I am never disappointed in your writing. Love and lust are such complicated matters. We search for wholeness in the arms of others: never realizing that we must be whole first. Beautiful and powerful.

[KeithFowler]

Once more you show why you are a Master of the art of Poetry. From beginning to the end the story holds you and you weep as well.

[melissa's heart]

I love your poetry, it speaks to me heart. What a talented writer you are.

[Kimberly "Melody" Carne..]

A true masterpiece! A wonderful write as always!