Strangers in Time

I’ll ever remember the day she left

In a storm, I was so unkind,

I’d hurled the dinner right over her head

At the wall, and it blew her mind!

‘That’s it!’ she muttered, and grabbed her bag

Went sailing out of the door,

With never a backward glance at me

Or our lives, forever more!

 

I sat for a week, just waited, thinking

Soon she’ll be coming home,

Sat in the dark and hated, loved,

Then thought I’d better atone,

So I took to the streets, her mother’s house

But of her, there wasn’t a trace,

I tried her sister and brother’s homes

And they slammed the door in my face.

 

Louise had walked right out of my life

And she wouldn’t be coming back,

My world collapsed in a fit of tears

But I had to accept the fact,

I walked unthinking into the road,

Was hit by the local bus,

I vaguely remember the ambulance bell

And waking up in a truss.

 

There was something odd in that hospital,

I couldn’t quite pin it down,

The ward was the long, old-fashioned sort

In a seedy part of town,

I noticed the nurse’s uniforms

Were odd, like they used to wear

Back in the fifties, as a kid

I’d had tonsillitis there.

 

There was more than plenty of time to think

And I went back through my life,

Went back to every decision I’d made

Right up to losing my wife,

If I’d just done this, or just said that

I’d have taken a different tack,

So many ways I’d mishandled things

With no chance of going back.

 

And there, behind each second of time

Was a choice that we’d have to make,

Two paths had always been open to us

What path did the other path take?

Could there be a parallel universe

Where the other half of me,

Had made those different decisions,

Was alive, but happy and free?

 

It took three months for my wounds to heal

Then I found myself in the street,

It wasn’t the town I remembered, though,

It had changed, perceptively,

And I was feeling much younger

So much fitter than before,

A glimpse of my face in a mirror, caught

And shocked me to the core!

 

I went to the university

And there I saw Louise,

Just as I’d seen her years before

And she waved and smiled at me,

Or I thought she did, but she passed me by

Went up to another man,

Kissed him there in the quad, and then

Walked off with him, hand in hand.

 

I was back in a parallel universe

Before she’d become my wife,

And now I remembered, Andy Cole

Had caused me a lot of strife,

We’d both gone after the same Louise

In the end, she’d chosen me,

But not before he had done with her,

Walked off, and set her free.

 

I followed them at a distance to

The place where they shared a flat,

I noticed she wore a wedding ring

And I thought that that was that!

I’d come too late in this scheme of things

That had taken another line,

I walked by her, but she knew me not,

We were simply strangers in time.

 

Then suddenly I was back at home

And closing the old front door,

I could smell Louise’s cooking, it

Was a dish I’d come to abhor,

I took my place at the table and

She handed me the plate,

I said, ‘It smells delicious, dear!’

I’m the master of my fate!

 

David Lewis Paget

 

Reviews

[eatmills]

Dave, sometimes when I read your pieces, I get this weird feeling that you can see my life. Just today, I thought what would it be like if I could go back do everything the same but change the ending to this present moment that I am at and now I have read it. As always...

[minisla]

Loved the last verse summed the poem up

[MOON]

Ha what a twist , the road not travelled , the time to reflect a parallel universe , choices . Poignant write thought provoking.

[Emerald Seas]

Hmm... wouldn't it be nice for those that take their spouse for granted to get a similar wake-up call? Your writings have such lovely twists, life lessons, whimsy at times, and sorrows too - this is true Paget style to the core.

[David Scott]

Very well put. Your stories draw me in from the first. I liked the dramatic start. The twisting of story line not being to direct to the end point and then driving the point home true and solid. That is great work and even an amature can see it plain.
Be Well David. I look forward to reading more.

[Weezie76]

Thank you for sharing David. I'm finding myself so full of emotions as I'm reading all the wonderful poems you amazing writers post. They help to take a good hard look at the choices in front of you rather than make hasty decisions. Thank you again...Weezie

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Humbling to the husband. I believe he truly understood how awful he was to his wife and was given the gift of choice to redeem himself.
Another well written & very enjoyable story in your special poem style.
~pat

[Theartofburning]

Captivated by your beginning,
but dear Sir, What an ending!

I very much enjoyed this write.
Simply brilliant.
=^.^=

[The Refined Poet]

wow. this write really does make one reflect on decisions and choices made. It goes without saying that it is crafted beautifully.

[Elgato]

Mr. Paget: what a wonderful, beautiful poem! It speaks to me especially the part "behind each second of time Was a choice that we’d have to make,
Two paths had always been open to us What path did the other path take?
For me, your poem causes one to reflect and perhaps gain a stronger perspective.