Cold, Cold Heart

When Michael married my girlfriend

I was standing, up at the back,

I didn’t want to be seen in there,

They’d think I was there to attack,

So I stood behind a pillar of stone

By the door, but out of view,

And I turned and left as a tear fell

When I heard her say, ‘I do!’

 

Just where had it gone so terribly wrong

I thought, as I walked away,

Barely a month had passed us by,

I’d given a ring that day,

She’d seemed surprised, and I’d seen her eyes

As she cast them down to the ground,

‘It’s a lovely ring, and I thank you, Tim,’

But she’d bowed her head, and frowned.

 

I didn’t know she’d been seeing him

On the sly, each Thursday night,

I’d always worked that night at the Kirk,

I was safely out of sight,

I heard today that they’d pawned my ring

Then gone straight out to dine,

And he had bought her another one

With the money they got for mine.

 

But Michael, he was a ne’er-do-well

With an eye for a lady’s leg,

He’d never held down an honest job

But borrowed and thieved and begged,

It wasn’t long, and he’d left her home

While he spent his nights on the prowl,

So I called on her one Friday night,

She came to the door, and howled.

 

‘I’m sorry, Tim, but I’m over him,

I should have stuck fast with you,

I know you’ll never forgive me, but

Now what am I going to do?’

I looked at her and I thought of all

I’d been going through since the part,

Then I looked inside, and I couldn’t hide

I was left with a cold, cold heart.

 

‘You can always get a divorce,’ I said,

‘You could throw him out of the house.’

But she shivered then at the thought of it,

She had the heart of a mouse.

‘I could meet you when he’s away,’ she said,

‘It would be like the days of old.

I could love you then like I used to do,

Don’t leave me out in the cold!’

 

I said that I’d go and think on it

Then wandered back home to Penge,

I rubbed my hands at the thought of it,

The thought of a sweet revenge.

I called her up the following week,

‘I’ll see you on Friday night,

But you have to sign for the Motel room

While I keep out of sight.’

 

It went as planned, she rented the room

And lay flat out on the bed,

I must admit I enjoyed myself

With evil thoughts in my head.

I popped a pill in her fizzy drink

And it put her out like a light,

Then stabbed a knife in the water bed

Went out, and whispered, ‘Goodnight!’

 

I sat and waited for Michael then

By the side of his own front door,

He rolled up drunk in the early hours,

Said, ‘Why are you here… What for?’

‘I’ve just been having it off with her,

The wife that you stole from me,

You’ll find her still in the bed we shared

At the Motel Room, one-three.

 

I hear he’s locked in a prison cell,

An attempted murder charge,

And I’ll be taking up knitting, so

I can cackle like Madame Defarge,

They say that he tried to drown his wife

In the water bed, that night,

She swears it must have been him, because

He was caught there, dead to rights!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Foxemerald]

The narrative quality in this is more poignant perhaps than those some of your other poems, and used enhancingly, to draw us into the cold devilment of this person. It's very pulling, thick with malicious gemstones and the dazzling jewels of an emotional piece with its due surprises. This is an excellent rendition of complex poetic elements and full, bleeding heart drama loved by the reader- me in this case, of course!

[Tate Morgan]

Oh yeah this is classic Paget. What a great twist to a fitting end. "She had the heart of a mouse." Seems he had the heart of a lion'"

[Angi]

...and we talk about women scorned! Ha! Another goodie, David! Angi~

[Keith]

Brilliant David, superb tale with perfect rhyme and meter. Great entertainment.

[Betty]

Wow, cold heart indeed. The plot, the emotion was all of which i enjoyed so very much, it was very interesting, and impeccably written.

[Marie]

A sweet vengence indeed.

His heart was certainly cold, but I thnk he went a little over the top here.