The Valley of DiscontentA Poem by David Lewis PagetHe
gazed at me with his rheumy eyes, ‘You
think that you’re getting old! You’ll
not go travel that lonely valley Until
your bones are cold.’ His
voice was like the sound of a rasp Bubbling
up through his chest, And
his claw-like hands reached out for mine As
I backed away from his desk. ‘I
see that you won’t come close to me And
I can’t blame you for that, This
body holds a corrupted soul That’s
caught, like a drowning rat. I
tasted sin ‘til I’d had my fill When
I once was young, like you, I’m
twice as old as you think I am At
a hundred and twenty two.’ I
took a further step from his desk And
I let his words sink in, I’d
known that he was a billionaire But
not that he’d tasted sin. ‘They
told me you had the answers, you Could
steer me to great success!’ ‘I
could, but given your chances, you Should
probably aim for less.’ ‘I
aimed as high as I thought I could But
life only gave me gruel, I
wanted to rise as high as the rest But
the lack of success was cruel, They
passed me by for promotion while The
idiots by me flew, I
watched them counting their bonuses While
the ones that I got were few.’ ‘So
envy lies at the heart of it, You
think it’s better with wealth, You
only can spend a part of it What
you really need is health, Your
cheeks are ruddy, your eyes are bright You
can walk in the winter rain, While
I sit crippled with untold wealth In
a body that’s racked with pain.’ ‘But
you’ve been able to buy the best In
a long and a fruitful life, While
I’ve been able to give much less At
home, to my loving wife.’ ‘At
least your woman has stayed by you, She
hasn’t been fired by greed, She’s
more content than the wives I knew Who
wanted more than they need.’ ‘I
don’t have even a single friend,’ He
said, with a misty eye, ‘But
plenty of greedy hangers-on Who
are waiting for me to die. I
wasn’t warned when I signed the form In
blood, that the heart grows cold, That
even the love of my children then Could
only be bought with gold.’ He
shuffled the papers on his desk And
pushed one across to me, ‘Just
sign on the bottom line in blood And
you’ll have everything you see.’ I
looked at his ancient, withered form, At
the lines in his face of woe, Thought
of my wife and children, then: ‘I
think I’d better just go!’ David
Lewis Paget © 2013 David Lewis PagetReviews
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