Ghost Train

We were off to visit the Carnival,

Me, George and Julie Anne,

George was our mother’s boyfriend,

(Though in fact, he was a man!)

I was seven and Julie six

And our Mum waved us goodbye,

She said she had some shopping to do

Told Julie not to cry!

 

George looked up to the heavens with

His fake, long-suffering grin,

For Julie cried a helluva lot,

She couldn’t keep it in,

He took us down on the bus that night

There wasn’t room to park,

The evening stars were coming out

It was getting kinda dark.

 

We saw the lights of the Carnival

And Julie’s face lit up,

There were lots of rides and coconut shies

And Julie rode in a duck,

While George and I on the rifle range

Picked off some metal bears,

That raced across at the back, stood up,

Then fell to the pellets there.

 

There were clowns and men with megaphones,

And Chili Dogs with cheese,

And plenty of fluffy candy floss

That Julie stuck to her knees,

There was soda pop at this little shop

And we ate and drank our fill,

While George went up on a flying fox

And he said: ‘Now you be still!’

 

The evening mist came down at last

And George said we should go,

For Julie Anne was ready for bed

But I said, ‘Can’t we go?’

I pointed over the other side

Where a stall was draped in black,

With a skeleton painted on the front

Near a man with a bowler hat.

 

The sign had said ‘The Ghost Train’

And it looked all creepy, too,

With little cars that rumbled along

With room on them for two,

So George went over and paid the man

Who gave us an awful leer,

Said, ‘Come on kids, here’s an empty one,

We can sit you both down here.’

 

So I sat me down on the outside

Julie Anne was next to me,

The car jerked once, then rumbled off

Through a curtain, I said ‘Wheee!’

We travelled into the darkness

With the odd red flashing light,

A spider brushed against Julie’s cheek

And she screamed in a sudden fright.

 

A skeleton stuck out its bony arm

And it made a horrible sound,

Much like the scream of a banshee

Then a monster spun it around,

Its head revolved on its shoulders

And its teeth were yellow and red,

As a witch on a broomstick flew at us

And sailed right over my head.

 

I think I must have been more than pale

As the train passed ghosts and lights,

And creepy-crawly horror things

That would give you an instant fright,

We went through a darkened spider den

It was then that I looked around,

No Julie Anne, just an empty seat

As the car went thundering down.

 

I called and called for Julie Anne

But I couldn’t hear her scream,

Only the weird and ghostly sounds

As that train passed by in a dream,

But then it parted the curtain and

I found myself in the air,

With George just standing there startled

Running his fingers through his hair.

 

‘What have you done with Julie Anne?’

He shook me, made me sick,

‘She disappeared in the tunnel there,

It must be a Ghost Train trick!’

Then George looked round for the barker,

For the man in the bowler hat,

But the man had gone, and the lights went down

And the car sat, still on the track.

 

‘Your mother will kill me,’ George had cried

As he dived through the curtain there,

I followed him in, I wouldn’t be left

With the crazies at the Fair,

We stumbled over the rails, and fought

The cobwebs and the freaks,

With George still calling out ‘Julie Anne!’

In a voice that sounded bleak.

 

We went right through, saw nobody,

And stood in a sweat outside,

When suddenly there was a rumbling

From a car that was still inside,

The curtain parted, the car came out

With a woman as old as Pan,

She staggered up with a walking stick

And she cried: ‘I’m Julie Anne!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[John Phoenix Hutchinson..]

Congratulations this poem has been "approved" for publication in...

THE MAGICAL MYTHICAL MYSTERY COMPENDIUM.
-Metaphysical, Mystical & Fantastical Poetry.

By John Phoenix Hutchinson and Others. (c) 2012

Please feel free to submit other poems as you are not limited to one entry. Also please write a short "bio" about yourself and send to me via private message. This will be published along with your poem. Thanks J.P.H.

Anyone wanting to make Submissions to this Writers Cafe "e" book Project can do so on my group page, the deadline is 1st of November 2012.

[minisla]

Scary stuff. Nice work

[Lisa Ring]

Childhood joys gone awry. It is what I always feared. Perhaps Julie Anne had a reason to always cry. Excellent.

[Shamsuddin Mazed]

Oh! really Praisworthy

[Everette McCandy]

Wow. This was a great poem which held a lot of emotion. And poor Julie Ann.

[poeticpiers]

The ending caught me of my guard. David.I should have know there would be a sting in tail. ivor

[The Refined Poet]

creepy, scary, and funny... perfectly interwoven. the flow as usual in just right.

[MoriartyMesa]

This reminds me of what folks in the South would call : "Back Water Blues" it has all the themes of good ole fashion Louisianan Blues. I know that was not the intent, but the flow made it so to me.

[Pratik]

That was creepy!!! Reading this poem was like watching a horror flick!! But it was so much better! As I started reading this poem it reminded me of the fairs I used to visit when I was a child.. I was actually feeling good!! But the ending just blew me off!! You really do know how to make your readers take a roller-coaster ride of emotions!! It was both fascinating and frightening!! Loved it sir!

[Valentine]

Loved the ending..I remember doing most of the same things when I was a child with my mom and siblings..It was fun and I sometimes wish I was that kid gain..But not on a roller coaster....Love to you and Lyn..Be happy always my friend..Kathie