The Perfect Circle

‘Time is a perfect circle

Where it ends, it curves back in,

Starting a whole new cycle

Where the other one begins,

We cannot escape our futures, nor

Much less, escape our past,

The things that we’ve run away from

Will be waiting there, at last.’

 

That’s what he said to Jennifer

As she packed her final case,

And carried it out to the taxi,

‘I don’t want to leave a trace!

I’m parcelling up the memories

That I shared so long with you,

And dropping them off at the station,

Locked forever, on platform two.’

 

And Derek had looked forsaken as

She passed out through the door,

She’d said their love was mistaken

It had gone, forevermore.

‘Don’t look, enquire, or ask for me

Or you’ll still be waiting yet,

The one thing that will stay with me

Is that I wish we’d never met.’

 

And so she passed on out of his life

A marriage of thirteen years,

A time of strife with a testy wife

And a basketful of tears,

He tried to cling to the better times

That were fading in his head,

He only knew that he loved her still,

Though he wished that he was dead.

 

When Jennifer rode away that day

She had thought, ‘At last, I’m free!

I’m going to live my life the way

That I hoped my life would be.’

She thought of her husband’s final words

As his heart began to rend,

‘Just know that I love you, Jennifer,

I’ll be with you in the end.’

 

She moved to a whole new neighborhood

And she spurned her former friends,

Went with a whole new clique of folk

Who had never made amends,

There wasn’t a single married pair,

They were all divorced, or spent,

Adrift in the dim-lit bars like her

In search of what life meant.

 

But when the news of his passing came

She was pensive for a while,

She planned to go to his funeral

And forgot for a day to smile,

He hadn’t been able to countenance

A life where his love had gone,

And left a note with a single quote,

‘I’d best be moving on!’

 

She drifted on for a few more years

In her false, gay party hat,

With nobody there to wipe her tears

As he’d done, when times were flat,

When time brought on some dread disease

And she knew that her time was spent,

Whose hand would pay for her funeral,

Not one, and nobody went.

 

They had to open her husband’s grave

That he’d paid in the years before,

When life for him had been content

‘Til death do us part,’ he swore,

And as her coffin was laid on his

In that dismal outback track,

It was then I heard but a whispered word,

‘I knew you’d be coming back!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[alf]

Hi David. You have mastery over epic tales, my friend!!! This one is the best I have read so far! The story flows, as they all do, but this has a haunting quality that stayed with me as I read. The cycle of life . . . that's what comes to mind. A sad tale with a sad ending, two souls entwined forever. Truly a wonderful piece of writing, alf

[MomzillaNC]

Wow! The ones we love may hurt us most deeply. But those who love deeply will always love, even when they’ve moved on. Such a moving and poignant way to demonstrate that.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Quite a haunting tale...DLP!!!!!

[Confuser]

Oh my dear God: The image of that is profound! It was a great writing and The Perfect Circle is a great title. It is so sad that people throw away things so easily, as you have described so well. Your wording is always amazing; it's like reading the best prose around with great rhymes and twists and turns that spin great tales, but this one so vivid in the imagery. Mind-blowing! Emotional and passionate to the point, I couldn't be pulled away; felt so sad for the husband - and everyone else she left; that ripple of pain exploding upon everyone. It's the only poem that I felt disgusted with a character. It just happens too often. Anyway, thank you so much. Great writing as always. Dale

[andrew mitchell]

A sad tale david even though reunited it was due to external issues and not for the right reasons lol A another epic write till the end, Class!

[ANTO]

This is the first poem of yours David where I felt sorry for the antagonist.

I came away worrying that she now would be sharing the grave with someone she couldnt stand - it struck me as being like a stalker from beyond had just had Heaven granted to him while she had Hell bestowed upon her.
I imagine her spinning like crazy in the hole. lol.

Thats no reflection on your masterful rhyming and word-smithing, which I love.
:)

[Devanshu Rajput]

WoW! A marvelous tale of love. I liked it. In the end you took me by surprise, as you always do, this is something that appeals the readers to read your poems more.

Thanks for sharing this.

And, indeed:-

"‘Time is a perfect circle
Where it ends, it curves back in,"

Devanshu

[Frozen Eyes]

A perfect story.. I love the ending most and also the rest of the loop..

[Valentine]

Neither bothered to get a divorce so while she wasted away her life she was in truth still a married woman. Lucky for her he did not get a divorce or she would have ended up in a potters field. Hit the sad nail on the head for the male in this write. Valentine

[Marie]

Life comes full circle, doesn't it? We can't escape the loop. Jenifer counted on Derek's love, even though she didn't know it, and in the end she found it again.