The Threat of the Weaker Sex

The man had a terrible temper,

Would rage at the skies above,

Would screech and howl, like a midnight owl,

He’d been unlucky in love.

He’d stomp about in the village square,

Go out, and look for a fight,

The villagers always avoided him

When he’d roam around at night.

 

Then he’d come and knock at my own front door

Demanding to talk to Jill,

I’d hear her say from the passageway,

‘I don’t want to talk to Bill!

I’d had enough when he beat me up

And my heart would never heal,

Just tell him I’m sticking with you, my love,

I know that your love is real!’

 

He’d punch the door, then he’d stand and roar

So I’d slam the door in his face,

He kicked a panel across the floor

And I said I’d call the police!

I heard him muttering as he left,

‘Come out, I’ll give you a fight,

Tell Jill she’s dead if she’s in your bed,

I’ll call in the dead of night!’

 

I took the hammer and nails outside

And battened the shutters down,

Then strung an electrical tripwire that

Would pulverise the clown,

‘The man’s as mad as a meat axe, Jill,

Bi-Polar, that’s for sure,’

‘More of a schizophrenic, Jim,

‘Be sure to bar the door.’

 

We’d sit in a petrified silence in

The cottage, every night,

Listening for the slightest sound

If something wasn’t right,

The roof would creak as the timber cooled

And the wind soughed through the eaves,

We even strained by the window panes

At the patter of Autumn leaves.

 

‘How long are we going to put up with this,’

I said to Jill, one morn,

‘He’s tempting fate by the garden gate,

He’s been there since the dawn.’

‘I’m going to have to confront him,’ said

The darling of my life,

I hadn’t proposed to her just then

But I hoped she’d be my wife.

 

She walked on out to the garden gate

And I heard him raise his voice,

I couldn’t quite make his words out, but

He was giving her a choice.

Then Jill I heard in a voice that stirred

From the depths of a gravel pit,

And he went white with a look of fright

And he left, and that was it!

 

‘What did you say to the maniac

That he turned and went away?’

She smiled, and cuddled on into me,

‘I think I made his day.

I said that I’d go back home with him

But I’d poison his meat and drinks,

Or slit his throat when asleep one night…’

He hasn’t been back here since!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

This must have been in days of yore, when woman's voice was heard, the cries of ladies born of late can't speak that very word. Their men cannot protect them, no matter what they said, for often in that case, today, both of them are dead. I wish not speak of horror, or woman of abuse, if men of prey would walk away, there'd be no need for noose! Barbz

[Cambion]

"Mad as a meat axe" ha! love it! I love reading your poems, Mr. Paget. I feel like I'm in another world for a time. Thanks for the solid entertainment.

[R Smith]

love the ending David, i hate anyone who makes life a misery for others just by being mean of spirit, pity she never treated him to a glass of her special cocktail :)

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Good Jill showed him she wasn't taking it anymore....excellent tale, David.

[ANTO]

All the girls round our way are taking up boxing as a sport nowadays - the next generation of so-called 'big men' had better watch their step. Your missus set him up with 'let's go home jab' - gave him the old one-two then a right hook to the ego David. She's a keeper.
A lighthearted approach to a difficult subject mate - bravo

[Valentine]

That's a girl; don'; get mad...get even. I do not believe in physical abuse of any kind. I helped with the Battered Woman's Shelter in Arkansas.. The t-shirts had pictures of 18+ women that had been killed by their husbands or boyfriends. No one can make another love them, especially when there is abuse.. Glad Jill got up the nerve to put the fear of death in him David. Another great write. Kathie

[Marie]

That's the way to deal with a problem--confront it, don't barricade youself from it with shuters and tripwirse.
"The female of the species/Is deadlier than the male..."

[MomzillaNC]

That's my kinda gal! Seriously! As Homer wrote: "Oh, woman, woman! When to ill thy mind is bent, all Hell contains no fouler fiend."

[Marie]

I didn't know Homer wrote that, but I'm glad to learn something new. I didn't figure I had to tell DLP the souoce of my own quote...

[MomzillaNC]

Yeah, I have all these quotes floating around my brain. I just Google the quote to find out who said it if I can't recall at the time. That's what I did with this one.

[Alaa Abdelrazig]

Powerful! I was carried through the narrative on edge. Jill's twist at the end, was refreshing, concise, and completely unpredictable. Enjoyed it from beginning to end