Photographs

His parents had both been gone so long

He’d forgotten how they looked,

So gathered up all the photographs

And pasted them in a book,

Then hid the book until once a year

He would bring it out in the light,

And ruffle through all of its pages in

A memorial delight.

 

His wife said, ‘Why do you bother, Ken,

It will never bring them back,

It’s surely enough to remember when

You left, on a different track.’

Her own had consciously turned away

When she went and married Ken,

Had spurned her later advances and

She hadn’t seen them again.

 

‘I gave my family up for you,

But what did you do for me?

You tied me down with your family plan,

Locked me in your family tree!’

‘Was that so bad?’ And he looked quite sad

She revealed what he’d always known,

That she’d always hated his parents and

Would rather they’d lived alone.

 

‘What did they ever do to you,’ he said

‘To warrant your gall?’

‘They took away from my time with you,

With them, they wanted it all.’

‘They simply wanted the best for us

So they helped us out where they could.’

‘They kept on coming around,’ she said,

‘A great deal more than they should!’

 

One year, on opening up his book

There was more than a missing page,

With some of the photo’s gone for good

He was flung in a sullen rage.

‘What have you done with the photographs

Of the folks, there, back on the farm?’

‘You must have mislaid the things yourself…’

And he looked at her in alarm.

 

‘Have you gone really quite mad,’ he said,

‘Have you gone really insane?

Why would you take my memories

And cause me so much pain?’

‘They’re gone, they’re dead,’ she had screamed at him,

‘Yet you never let them be,

As long as you still remember them,

Then I will never be free!’

 

‘I thought that I’d seen the last of them

When I put your mother away,

And then, with only your father left

I made sure he choked that day!

I needed to get a new life for me

I need to be more than a wife…’

She hurriedly poured his soup for him

As he slowly picked up the knife.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Oh my goodness... read this twice, is such a painful read. Not sure what to say about the content - seems modern Gothic (?; tis the undercurrent of two people's terrible pain and a strong creeping feeling that something awful's going to happen.

Your work historical, comedic. tragic, etcetera is always superb but there's something different here that, because of its power, could be strangely memorable for me.

[Avinash]

A hyper possessive woman can do scariest things you would imagine. After reading this story I say thanks to God that I am still a bachelor.

[Barbz]

How does one that revels in thoughts and visions of joys of the past, create feelings of insecurity and jealousy in their present lives. What makes one feel unloved? Are they both drawing from their past, thus causing disfunction and the madness that would conjure up bloody revenge? David, you have poetically expressed a common, unfortunate human experience.

[R Smith]

oh that's a nasty ending David, the conflict a family can cause that leads to such tragedy, more great writing from your magic pen, you have a golden touch and its really showing now, bravo :)

[Marie]

I agree with Broken Girl; she was a horribly selfish woman. Of course, parents can be selfish too, not wanting to let go of their children.

It's not clear to me why she wanted to be "more than a wife". I thought that was the whole point. She wanted to be all wife, not daughter-in-law.

[child of God]

Good poem big twist in the end I was not expecting that ending that's one selfish women

[Valentine]

Are you trying to give us all nightmares? This is a totally different write than I expected from you. With an eerie twist and a selfish female. Where on earth out of your brain or past did the idea for this one come fro?. Are you hiding a secret past? Just kidding. This was a surprise..Kathie

[ANTO]

So its the malky then is it David?
Cracking wee Corrie meets ..well ...Corrie (I contend theres more murderers per square inch in Weatherfield than anywhere in the world).
very rare that the in-laws are liked - more just tolerated for the sake of...
You nailed it here my friend.
:DD

[MomzillaNC]

This one took a whiplash turn down that dark path! It started out rather poignant and sweet, turned kind of sour and maudlin, then, WHAM! Murder, rage, and mayhem!

[W R Stowe]

People just don't understand the grieving process and what harm was it to have his one memorial day a year she was a very selfish woman and then again so was he.Personally my second wife had shunned my family but never again.No I didn't pick up a knife lol nice poem