The Note

‘It’s not that I wanted to leave,’ he wrote,

On a scrap they later found,

‘Just that the stress was too intense,

You drove me into the ground.

You’re like a terrier, won’t let go

Til you drive us all to tears,

You have to worry the same old thing

You’ve clung to your chest for years.’

 

‘It’s not as if you can let things go

When you’ve lashed, and whipped and scourged,

You won’t let the pain just go away

Though I’ve pleaded, and I’ve urged.

I’ve read the letters you wrote before

And it’s word for word the same,

You said you were writing your demons out

But I see that nothing’s changed.’

 

‘When will you learn that a man’s a man

With his rights and wrongs intact,

You can’t go changing a leopard’s spots

With your mouth, and that’s a fact,

You share your misery every day

Til it’s all far too intense,

You think your way is the only way

And allow no recompense.’

 

‘Why did I ever stick with you?’

I ask of the stars above,

‘The answer comes, as it does with you,

‘I stayed for the sake of love!’

What is this love but a trail of pain

From a scar that will never heal,

That rakes the ashes, over again

Til our love can’t see or feel.’

 

‘It’s not that I wanted to leave,’ he wrote,

‘But it’s better for you and I,

There must be someone better for you

And I’ll put my faith in the sky.’

He’d dipped his pen for the final time

As despair had come in a flood,

And she had muttered, ‘I don’t know why,’

That he’d signed his name in blood.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[alf]

This is a poem that that takes a reader in a strong grip and hold him there from go to whoa. Not only have you captured the sorrow of the one, you have suggested the auto-focus of the other in a way the lets the reader decide the personalities of the participants. Morbidly fascinating, comes to mind, gruesome, but attention grabbing. Thank you, I enjoyed the read, alf

[Devanshu Rajput]

A very effective, yet very dark poem. This verse, really had it:-

"
‘When will you learn that a man’s a man
With his rights and wrongs intact,
You can’t go changing a leopard’s spots
With your mouth, and that’s a fact,
You share your misery every day
Til it’s all far too intense,
You think your way is the only way
And allow no recompense.’

A suicide letter, I might say.

Thanks for sharing it, and congratulations for your 1100th poem. There is a long way to go.

Devanshu

[David Lewis Paget]

This is my 1100th poem since 1968.