The Girl with a Deadly Charm

The first time that I noticed them

I passed them on the stair,

She wore an amulet love-charm then

He was much too old for her.

I should have hurried and looked away

But I caught her smouldering eye,

And my heart had leapt within my breast

To this day, I wonder why?

 

Her hair, a tangle of lovers knots,

Her lips, a definite pout,

Her figure light and her legs were white

And I saw her look about.

She peeked behind as she passed me by

And I caught her knowing look,

The moment passed with the slightest sigh

I was firmly on her hook.

 

I didn’t go out of my way for her,

She seemed so firmly fixed,

The man beside her glowered at me

And gripped her by the wrist,

I saw him leading her often then

As our paths began to cross,

And smiled at her as she came my way

But her eyes looked vague, and lost.

 

The man came up and he gripped my arm,

‘You’d better leave her be.

Don’t think to fall for her fateful charm,

Giselle belongs to me!’

He pushed me then, and he walked away

And he gripped her arm so tight,

He stopped the blood where his fingers lay

And her hand went stark and white.

 

I asked a friend who had known her once,

He said, ‘Just keep away.

She labours under a curse, that one,

She only brings dismay.

You see the man who escorts her now

And you think he’s far too old,

A year ago he was twenty-two

But he aged once in her hold.’

 

I didn’t think it was possible

But he aged as time went on,

His hair and his beard went pale and grey

And his features, pale and wan,

Though she gained colour in both her cheeks

And her eyes would sparkle blue,

While he would stumble, but still cling on

Till she said, ‘I’m looking at you!’

 

As soon as she uttered those fateful words

His hand released its grip,

And she walked on, not looking back

As if on a different trip.

She came to face me and say the words

That had snared good men before,

But I turned into my passageway

Grey faced, and I locked the door.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

This mistress of illusion, might be a righteous gal. The man, before your eyes met, might shout, "A Femme Fatale". A beauty by description, the knowing glance you felt, might have been for you, alone. could cause a heart to melt. Those who saw her lover, age before their eyes, assumed that all this loveliness, was just a mere disguise. She touched you for a moment, but logic caused it brief. Yours was not a heart to steal....by her, this blue-eyed thief..........Deadly Charm?? perhaps not.......but your write ...a Definite Charm.....Barbz

[Valentine]

Laughing out loud at your ending. He wasn't going to take any chances was he? Can you imagine a femme fatale that had the power to crush any man. Poor guy is probably afraid to leave his cabin.. Kathie