The Mouth of the Oracle

She’d slammed the door as he’d turned to say:

‘I know where I don’t belong!’

Then swallowed hard as he headed out

To find where his life went wrong.

He’d not been happy for many years

So this was a final twist,

‘Just pack your bags and get out,’ she’d said,

‘I can’t take much more of this!’

 

‘Of what?’ he thought, for he didn’t know

It was written all over his face,

The love he’d offered and taken back

He’d never thought much of Grace.

He never smiled when he came back home,

She waited in vain, at best,

He’d just come back from the world out there

And he always came back depressed.

 

He tried to remember the dreams he’d had

And the schemes that he’d hatched before

Bidding farewell to his parents house

With the rules taped over the door,

You can’t do this and you must do that

Was a theme that he’d come to hate,

When his father said he’d relax the rules

John said: ‘It’s a bit too late!’

 

He thought his freedom the greatest thing

He could drink and smoke with the rest,

Spend the night with a dolly bird

Who would leave in the morning, dressed,

But he found he couldn’t hold down a job

By sleeping in way past noon,

Ran out of money and cigarettes

And his freedom turned to gloom.

 

He’d married young to a working wife

So the bills were always paid,

She tried to get him to work, but he

Had treated her like a maid,

She kept the house while he lounged about,

Went out and hung with his friends,

His opportunities squandered, though

He said that he’d make amends.

 

But now, he needed an Oracle

To tell him the facts of life,

He thought there must be a secret in

Appeasing an angry wife,

He knew of one at the waterfront

At least it was billed as such,

An Octopus in a giant tank

But it cost a dollar a touch.

 

You slipped your dollar into the slot,

It slid back an iron door,

A placard on the back of the tank

Said, ‘What did you come here for?’

A row of buttons were there to press

Said ‘Love’, ‘Romance’ or ‘Fate’,

‘Job Promotion’ or ‘Lotto Wins’

But the season was getting late.

 

They’d closed the show in the week before

So he had to climb the fence,

He clutched the only dollar he had

And crawled in, under a bench,

The Giant Pacific Octopus sat

And stared through the misting glass,

Then watched him sliding the dollar in

And pressing the word ‘Romance’.

 

At this the Octopus tentacles

Had begun to writhe about,

Helped by a tiny electric charge

The ‘Romance’ button gave out,

A tentacle hit a pressure pad

That released a little card,

One with a potted saying, as if

The Oracle had heard.

 

The card said, ‘Better to love, and lose

Than never to love at all!’

John punched the glass in frustration then,

So much for an Oracle!

The glass then suddenly cracked and burst,

Releasing a waterspout,

And seven tentacles wrapped him round

As the Octopus swam out.

 

The eighth was wrapping around his neck

As he tried to fight and hide,

But eight to two isn’t much of a match

With your arms pinned by your side,

He felt the beak of the giant beast

As it took a chunk from his throat,

There wasn’t the time to cry on out

As he fell to the ground, and choked.

 

A fisherman saw it loping along

On the boardwalk, out to the sea,

Dragging a pair of empty shoes,

And a hand with wallet and key,

His wife said he was a waste of space

Wouldn’t go to the funeral,

‘He found his calling at last,’ she said,

‘In the mouth of the Oracle!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Lena M. P.]

He went looking for someone else to give him the answers to life when it was right in front of him all along - Do onto others... Anyway there wasn't much to bury. The wife should have finished giving him his burial at sea. Personally I would have thought cement shoes even before the Oracle got him but that's just me. (grin)

[Tate Morgan]

Isnt that just like mankind to go looking for what he isnt willing to sacrifice. Well sometimes the world demands whether or not we are willing to give

[Valentine]

Laughing..terrific ending..you hitt he nail on the head with this one..many do marry to get away from the parents who rule their lives..yet..find out the should have waited until their brians had grown as much as their desires..Valentine

[keyvan]

very nice....beautiful..

[roarke]

David, you seem to have an inside track to these tales of fate and such. As fanciful as the story seems, to me it illustrates those chance cracks in life that lead to fateful doors and offer the choice of going through or not. Life has been so homogenized and propagandized that the unique and different lives people used to live are all but forgotten. This write of your's lets me know those chance paths still exist. Very good story.

[Marie]

Not the brightest bulb in the box was he? Spendinfg a dollar to get the cliche of a fortune is bad enough, but pounding on the glass cage holding a giant octopus proves he got what he deserved.

[quinfinn]

seems a fitting end for someone too lazy to take life seriously. i think you told the tale well and of course, the rhyme and meter were spot on, as usual. well penned, David!

[Veronica Chandler]

If I had the money to spare I would pay for daily rides on the sort of journeys you oft take your readers upon. A thrill a minute you offer us from that deep and sorted mind, contained within a spirit so bright from a place like up on high. I feel it is an honor to read your works let alone to review them. This particular joy ride of a poem had me laughing at the same time sad for the poor fellow's self made plight.
Delightful

[nwachukwu c]

Like i 've seen in other of your work being posted by other writer. Your work indeed is priceless, we should always do something to maintain our desire. No food for a lazy man apostle Paul# before we make our decision we must make sure we are ready for it results. Pity his calling was funeral.......

[Clayton Bardwell]

When the prize grows sweet enough I still pay my dollar for a chance at romance.