The Other Side of the Coin

The cards had been falling badly for

The man that they knew as Jack,

He’d entered through the scullery door

In a faded, stained old Mac,

He didn’t look like he had a buck

Til he reached into his coat,

And pulled a roll of hundreds out

That would choke a Nanny Goat.

 

They said he could play a hundred down

And a hundred for each raise,

It didn’t appear to faze him then,

He said, ‘Well, loser pays!’

He fooled them all with his poker face

And he bluffed at first to win,

But by the time that the clock struck eight

His roll was getting thin.

 

When Diamond Jim played a Royal Flush

And took his final note,

Jack stood up and he shook his head

And reached out for his coat,

‘I thought that you’d try to win it back,

You must have more to spare,

I’ll wager it all for what you’ve got

In your pocket, double dare!’

 

Jack then sat, and his eyes had glowed

As he scowled at Diamond Jim,

Pulled out a tarnished silver coin

And he said, ‘Well let’s begin!’

They eyed the coin on the table-top

Its head like a man with horns,

‘You can’t look now at the tails of it

Til you own it, then it’s yours.’

 

‘What would you say that coin is worth,

I’ve never seen its like.’

‘There isn’t enough in all the earth

To purchase it, by right,

It must be won in a game of chance

As I won it, long ago,

From a man like a Turkish Sultan that

I met in a travelling show.

 

Diamond Jim dealt a single hand

And he said, ‘What if I win?’

‘Then you can look at the coin’s reverse

And the chaos will begin!’

‘I think that you’d better show me now

Before we play this hand,

I’m not so sure that I want this coin

With its evil Goats Head Man.

 

Jack reached out and he tossed the coin

Which spun for a while up there,

As each man suddenly felt the pain

Of a deep and a dark despair,

It took forever to clatter down

And rest on the table top,

The sign of a Spider facing up,

They thought that their hearts would stop.

 

For up from the coin the spirits came

Of the ones that they’d loved and lost,

And all of them seemed to be in pain

As the wailing came across,

They lurched away from the table, and

They stood and they shook in fear,

‘By God, there’s Marilyn Ampersand

Who drowned in June last year.’

 

The walls of the room then fell away

They stood on a stony beach,

A woman was drowning out in the surf

But totally out of reach,

And Diamond Jim gave an awful cry

From the depths of his shattered soul,

‘I’d give the world as a ransom, dear,

To bring you back safe, and whole.’

 

Then Jack had snatched at the tarnished coin

And flipped it up on its head,

The room returned, they were standing there,

‘You can bring her back from the dead!

You only have to possess the coin

Are you willing to play the hand?’

But Jim had wiped at his fevered brow

And shook, he could barely stand.

 

He took his winnings, all in a roll

And he pushed them back at Jack,

‘Just take your coin and your money too

And leave, don’t ever come back!

I like my world as it is, my friend,

Though grief lies deep in the groin,

But Marilyn won’t be coming back

From the other side of the coin!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[BlackRose]

You do it as alway, astounding me. Phenomenal work. Don't know how you do it each time with them rhymes. A standing ovation to this and your others.

[Tate Morgan]

holy cow that was great . No tale of the trips to the Klondike could outdo that tale. That is one in a million bravo

[Baby Ricochet]

Man! What if you put that coin in a washing machine at the laundromat? It could start the apocalypse.

[Daniel Sala]

Very funny, a horror tale which is amusing too.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Another good one David...

[Ahena MK]

When Diamond Jim played a Royal Flush
And took his final note,
Jack stood up and he shook his head
And reached out for his coat,
really good ...
ahena :)

[Lena M. P.]

I believe you topped yourself with this one David.

[Marie]

This coin is Satan's doing, obviously. Jim was wise.