Down & Out!

He suddenly felt he was down and out,

He’d been down and out before,

The time that his wife had packed her trunk

And sallied out through the door,

There are things that leave a bitter taste

And to lose a wife was one,

To lose another was carelessness

But that’s what the fool had done.

 

How often she said it would end like this

But it fell on empty air,

Each time she’d started to rave, he’d run,

She’d turn and he wasn’t there.

He’d go and drink in the local pub

Or gamble a hefty sum,

And roll back home with an empty clip

No money, and just as dumb.

 

She didn’t wait ‘til he came back home

On the night she packed her bags,

He turned the corner and she sailed by

In the Taxi of Randolph Skaggs,

He walked on in to an empty house

The carpets gone from the floor,

His footsteps echoed into the hall

And up to the second floor.

 

She’d left his dinner, cold on a plate

With a note from Shiralee,

‘You’d better enjoy this cold collate

It’s the last you will get from me!’

She’d signed her name with a flourish then,

And left him a last P.S.,

‘I’m halfway sorry it ends like this

But I guess it’s just for the best.’

 

He sat in the dark with misty eyes

‘Til the clock had struck midnight,

He couldn’t get up to save his life,

Not even to turn on the light,

He felt that he’d failed in everything

He’d not even given her kids,

The doctor said he was firing blanks,

He couldn’t win one for quids.

 

His mind roamed over the past few years,

‘Did anything come out right?’

The silence settled and sparked his fears

In the depths of that lonely night,

He found the bottle of scotch he’d hid

And savoured the Single Malt,

Then drank it all, as he always did,

‘Had everything been his fault?’

 

He staggered up to the attic room

Looked under the fold-up bed,

Then picked up one of the guns he kept

And held it up to his head,

He thought that Death with its open arms

Would resolve his problems, quick,

Then pulled the trigger with screwed up eyes,

But all that he heard was ‘click!’

 

He frowned, and picked up another gun

The first one must have misfired,

Then tried again for a second ‘click!’

He suddenly felt so tired,

He found the note that his wife had left,

‘You ought to be giving me thanks!

You’re such a dope, but I love you still…

I loaded your guns with blanks!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Strawberry]

Picked this one by chance (you have so many!) and I'm inclined to go off and read the rest now.

It was emotive, yet funny and ironic at the end. I love how there is the sudden change. I also love the message and the blame that is placed upon the persona. The wife obviously knows her husband that well, it makes you wonder who is to blame for the break-up.

[SimpleMind]

Wow~
I was captivated by the words! So true in the face of reality.

[Deuces]

Wow...

That was amazing! What a piece. The rhyme, the story, the dramatic end. Perfection is the word for this one. Go David!

I still have your book I bought a few years back. Always a fan.

[Lena M. P.]

He lost him a fine one there. Not often you find someone who knows you that intimately. I still had to chuckle at his foolishness. Can't even kill himself correctly.

[Veronica Chandler]

How well did "She" know "Him?" This one, as I see many of your's, has some wicked twists and turns. Sometimes I feel like I have had a bit of a whiplash from switching directions so quickly. You left me certain I knew where this poem/story was headed...only to be tricked by your words once again. You are a crafty fellow and writer, and I do so love the reads.

[redflutterby]

Apparently despite his lack of skill as a husband she didn't hold him any grudge. Some women might have left him an extra box of ammo. Wonder if she will come back home eventually? After all she loves him still...