A Walk in the Park

‘Will you not go walking with me, Michelle,

Will you not come out in the park?

There are lights between each tree, Michelle

So you’ll not be caught in the dark.

I have looked for you since the Winter Ball

When you turned, and gave me a glance,

And winked an eye with a long-drawn sigh

Could it be, I’m in with a chance?’

 

Michelle was walking, her shoulders bowed

With her eyes still fixed on the ground,

The weight of the world was on her back

When she looked aside, and frowned,

‘I would love to walk in the park with you

But I can’t, there isn’t a chance,

For eyes are watching my every move

They report each thing to Lance.’

 

I’d seen this Lance at the Winter Ball,

Lance Gordon George Dupree,

They say that he’s an ‘Honourable’

From some vaunted family tree,

But his eyes are beady, his mouth is grim

There’s a jealous look in his eye,

And he’d pulled Michelle from the ballroom floor

When he’d heard that long-drawn sigh.

 

‘My father promised my hand to him

When I’d barely turned thirteen,

Exchanged for some of his gambling debts

As my sister was, Lurline,

She hanged herself on her wedding night

In her silk, beribboned dress,

She would rather death than shame, she said

And I shall do nothing less!’

 

The wedding was barely a week away

I heard, from a friend I sought,

I got a job in the stables there

At La Maison de Villacourt,

I saw Michelle through a window where

They’d locked her into a room,

And watched her cry, and dab at her eye

Through a long drawn afternoon.

 

They posted a sentry at her door

Let nobody in or out,

I tried to attract her attention but

I couldn’t afford to shout,

So I pitched a stone at her window pane

And she finally got the hint,

Opened the casement window then

And smiled, with her eyes a-glint.

 

I helped her down, onto a horse

And we galloped out of the yard,

I knew wherever we went from there

We’d have to be on our guard,

She guided me to a wayside Inn

Where she slid on down to the floor,

Then threw me a kiss as she clambered in

Post-haste to a coach and four!

 

‘I’ll never forget you,’ called Michelle,

‘And what you have done for us!’

Then kissed the man in the coach and four

As I sat in shock, nonplussed.

‘I never promised a thing,’ her voice

Came drifting back in the dark,

‘But one day soon in the afternoon

We’ll take that walk in the park!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Mark]

It's Cyrano de Bergerac all over again! The woman mercilessly uses the clever as a vehicle to fly to the beautiful; of course in Cyrano, it was Christian who solicited de Bergerac's aid, but the upshot is the same! Did Roxanne ever find out what a dull boy her knight-in-shining-livery was?

[Angel]

Well, I have to say, I did not see that coming! And wasn't Michelle the clever girl!
What an excellent, and entertaining story...

[spiritwind]

how do you still manage to surprise me with your endings?
I am going to wise up to you one of these days... probably when I achieve a little bit of wisdom
thank you for your story poems, I find them a delight and now that winter is coming on, we can all use a little winter delights

[Marie]

I'm glad things ended happily for Michelle...I guess she was smarter than her sister...

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Well! There goes that happy ending, galloping away with that coach and four. LOL! I was held captive from the beginning and let loose with a 'gotcha' at the end. Very good ( as always ).