Jonathon's Dilemma

The world looks grim when your eyes are dim

And they’re swollen red with tears,

When all that you’ve won has come undone

And all you have left are fears,

So Jonathon Ley had felt that day

When he looked for his missing girl,

But she was several streets away

In bed with a man called Earl!

 

His world had come to a shuddering end,

His hopes had burst at the seams,

He knew that his heart would never mend

And all he had left were dreams.

The clouds of grief that came like a thief

Had stolen his girl, Elaine,

And she, the source of his one belief

Was promising only pain.

 

He hadn’t had any back-up plans

When planning his life ahead,

With Lainey gone he was on his own

Just him, and his empty head,

He thought that he’d put an end to it

The pain and suffering; How?

He spent some days considering ways

Under his furrowed brow.

 

He climbed to the top of the Town Hall clock

And found himself looking down,

All that he had to do was drop

Right next to the Lost & Found,

He’d looked on up from the street below

Took a final look at a star,

But didn’t know when he had to go

That the street would be down so far.

 

There’s always time for a change of plan

He thought, as he climbed back down,

Hiding his face from everyone

In case they thought him a clown.

He took a blade from the kitchen drawer

And thought he’d go to the park,

Then slit his throat in his overcoat,

By God, but that blade was sharp!

 

He wandered moping along the street

To think just what could be done,

He wanted to do it, quick and neat

But he hadn’t bought him a gun,

Then Lainey came, she had changed her mind

For Earl was a dog, and things,

‘You got the jist of the story wrong,

He asked me to test his springs!’

 

So Jonathon’s world came back in view

The clouds were cleared from his sky,

With everything now about her new

He never asked Lainey why.

They wed in June, in the afternoon

And the baby came in a whirl,

But he wouldn’t presume to question why

The baby looked like Earl!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

' His world had come to a shuddering end, - His hopes had burst at the seams, - He knew that his heart would never mend - And all he had left were .. .. '

Giggled at those attempts to .. .. plus, hadn't expected that ending! Laughed so loudly one of the dogs woke up!

As always your metre's superb, truly don't know you can write such marvellous and often humorous tales with such vigour time and time again, always with the finest rhyming.

[Vishuddha]

Well, it's not the first time ...

[A Soap Mess Stories]

another fantastic tale...

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

Goodbye Earl! a warming piece that makes one chuckle! well done.

[Marie]

Jonathon didn't really want to kill himself. What he did want was a brighter world, even if it was fake. The fact that the baby came four months early and looked like Earl--well, that was just coincidence.

[R Smith]

poor old Jonathon, guess he was to blind with love to see the truth and test the bed springs oh dear, oh dear, a sad tale but i guess he got what he wanted in the end, not something everyone can claim, lovely writing David :)

[MomzillaNC]

The ending was unexpected. Of course, know the idiocy love can inspire and the manipulative kind of users such as Elaine, that ending is wholly and sadly relatable. As always, your work is entertaining. This one was also, to me, a rather thought provoking commentary of people will lie to themselves to hold on to a treasured fantasy.

[Barbz]

I can only imagine how he felt, for Elaine let him down. The grass seemed, he thought was greener, on the other side of town. Pondering how to end it all, the pain was too intense. A fall, a gun, perhaps a knife, It made no difference. The twist came, as it always does, as Lainey learned her lesson. They Wed and bred, the child's face, gave him a strange impression.
I was so amused by the twist, Sir David........you never fail us.......never stop!!Barbz

[Bright Ocean Star]

Oh, what a fool! Poor Johnny! Ha-ha! Great as always, my friend. Good job. :)

[Valentine]

You are getting so funny. Another big laugh out of me. Testing his bed springs huh. I will have to tell that to some people here. not messing around, just testing the springs. I loved the ending to..Great funny. Mate..lol Kathie