Evening Light

Samantha sat at the headland, and

She gazed on out at the sea,

Down where the wake of the submarine

Had all but disappeared,

She thought of her Able Seaman as

The breeze blew through her hair,

And picked a clutch of forget-me-nots

As the seagulls wheeled out there.

 

He’d said he wouldn’t be gone for long

It was just a practice dive,

Testing all of the systems that

Would keep the men alive,

He looked so young in his Navy Blues

That her heart had skipped a beat,

His eyes as pale as the open sea,

His hair like golden wheat.

 

She was still a big-eyed, stricken teen

And he was twenty-one,

She’d been brought up on a Dairy Farm,

And he, a Commander’s son,

They planned to marry, but not just now

They would need to wait a bit,

Once, he promised, he’d won his stripes

And served on a surface ship.

 

She waited up on the headland for

The sub to reappear,

While clouds had billowed over the bluff

To reflect the time of year,

The sun sat on the horizon, and

The breeze blew in with a squall,

She sat and shivered despite herself

And wrapped herself in a shawl.

 

‘Now don’t you play with the mermaids,’

She had laughed before he fled

Down the hill, he was running late

To get to the docking shed,

He turned back once and he waved to her

And she thought she saw him smile,

Then lost herself in a dream of lace

As she walked on down the aisle.

 

The rain came down in a drizzle as

She lost the evening light,

She rose and wandered on homeward

In the bleak, unseeing night,

She didn’t see as the rescue ship

Sailed out into the bay,

But slept as the sub imploded

Just on fifty miles away.

 

While down and out on the seabed lay

A young Commander’s son,

His blue-eyed stare in surprise out there

As his dreams were all undone,

Those final moments he thought he saw

A mermaid stroke his hair,

Who whispered, ‘This is Samantha,

I’ll be waiting for you there!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

He turned back once and he waved to her
And she thought she saw him smile,
Then lost herself in a dream of lace
As she walked on down the aisle.

The rain came down in a drizzle as
She lost the evening light,
She rose and wandered on homeward
In the bleak, unseeing night,
She didn’t see as the rescue ship
Sailed out into the bay,
But slept as the sub imploded
Just on fifty miles away.

So sad. Brilliantly written - a melancholy tragic tale.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Your voice in this poem speaks more softly, almost in reverence of the inevitable end. Your words tread likely upon that killing sea so as not to awake the sleeping.

[minisla]

Every sea mans loves worst nightmare.

[ANTO]

Amazing tale of eternal love and loss David - I doff my poets cap to your storytelling skills

[Ravyne Hawke]

This is beautifully written and heartbreaking. I had this sinking feeling from the beginning that one of the two would perish.. so sad. Loved this, David!

[A Soap Mess Stories]

A sad, tragic love story ... two lovers longing ... waiting ...

[Tate Morgan]

They go to sea and often never to return.I suppose in England it was more often than not. I often wonder how many stood that ordeal as the wars have roiled over the years? But it is a young mans game and a romantics dream tied into one . Very good tale Dave.

[DCT ponderings]

I enjoyed this poem. I dated a young sailor once upon a time. It make me think of the moments upon the dock as loved ones bid farewell. That too few of them dared have the thought it would be the last time. Or as you poem promises...perhaps not. Tenderly penned.

[LapseOfMind]

Another well done tale, bravo sir. Your metering and rhyme scheme is fluid and the imagery is great. Good job.

[Marie]

Sad and sweet--I felt this wouldn't have a happy ending...
But perhaps Samantha turned into a mermaid for him...