If I Thought...

I wanted to go to the end of the street

To buy a chocolate éclair,

But now I’m at the end of the street,

The end of the street’s not there.

I’ll swear it was there just yesterday,

Was there on the day before,

But now when I look for the end of the street

The end of the street’s no more.

 

All I can see is a land of waste,

A land of rubble and weeds,

Where bushes grow in untidy rows,

A scatter of burdock seeds,

I wander on where the shops have gone

Where you used to meet with us,

But the road just ended around the bend

Where we caught the 16 bus.

 

There’s nothing left but a wilderness

An empty paddock and space,

As if I meet at the end of the street

The end of the human race,

The houses, shops and the industry

And the people I saw before,

They seem to be lost in a history

That nobody felt or saw.

 

That nobody felt or saw, I thought,

That came and took you away,

Strapped in the back of an ambulance

Laid out on a cold tin tray,

And your laughter fades in the wilderness

And your sighs reach up to the Moon,

And my heart that burst at the back of the hearse

Will never be mended soon.

 

I wanted to go to the end of the street

To buy a chocolate éclair,

For chocolate’s really the only thing

That will feed my deep despair.

But my soul is lost in the wilderness

Of your empty passing by,

I’d spend my grief on the lonely heath

If I thought I could only cry!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Valentine]

Wonderful write. Since moving back near my Grand dads farm, I find just the opposite. Streets where there were farms, houses where the cattle grazed, and freeways so I cannot find my way downstate to see if my old house is standing. Here, the day you put this on was CHOCOLATE DAY> Is that what inspired you? For us old timers, change isn't always good, is it? Another super write Mate..Kathie

[TL Boehm]

oh wow. Normally there is humor in your work sometimes dark humor but some lift. this one was more wrenching, more sad and spoke of the inevitability of the human condition. it is a beautiful write, though.

[Vishuddha]

"Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today. I wish to God he'd go away." As a little kid, one of my favorites. But, you have taken it so much further.

[R Smith]

marvelous David, a scene of despair and deep imagination, it would be nice to find the end of that street one day :)

[ANTO]

"They seem to be lost in a history
That nobody felt or saw.
That nobody felt or saw, I thought," - God I love this internal dialogue shift in the poem - its mind expanding, so it is David.

"And your laughter fades in the wilderness
And your sighs reach up to the Moon,
And my heart that burst at the back of the hearse
Will never be mended soon." - If I had my guitar with me I'd songsterize these words right this minute - Its reminiscent of Davey Arthur and the Fureys - dazzling stanza mate!

A bittersweet poem with class imagery, nostalgia and love - the real deal.
Im glad I found this tonight.

[Marie]

What a tragedy! To want a chocolate eclair and not be albe to buy one...

[Barbz]

Sometimes the life we thought we knew, would last until forever. For homes and roads, familiar things, from us would never sever. Time can erase our memories of times and pleasing fare, like streets and shops and wares, and such, goodies like chocolate eclairs....Replaced with lots of nothingness. As the years go bye, just waiting for our loved ones, and ourselves to die. if only for a moment, time would treat us fair and help us deal with tears unshed , for roads no longer there. Barbz... Once again, Bravo, Master!!!

[MomzillaNC]

Oh my… so very sad. You brought a tear to my eye.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Oh, David...this is fabulous! Deeply touching, gently rhythmic, and such great comforting rhyme it definitely pulls you down and sucks you in. This one made me want to cry and give this man a hug. Great writing!