The Black Stone Tower

I’d walked back home by the clifftop path,

I’d only been gone an hour,

Rounding the point, it came into view

The sight of our Black Stone Tower.

Its ancient mystery suited me then

We’d picked it up for a song,

Nobody else had wanted it,

At the price, we couldn’t go wrong.

 

They said that a king had built it there

Far back in the mists of time,

And soldiers climbed by the old stone stair,

But now, thank god, it was mine.

A roof to shelter my Evelyn,

Though we supped by candlelight,

And drew our water deep from a well,

Made love when the stars were bright.

 

But now a breeze blew up from the cliff,

Was chill, and ruffled my hair,

And something about the Black Stone Tower

Was strange, a sense of despair.

For weeds had grown where the weeds were not

When I’d left, an hour before,

And someone had painted a bright red cross

On the Baltic Pine of the door.

 

It was only when I had got close up

That I saw that the red was blood,

And the door was half off its hinges,where

It was splintering, as I stood,

Then shapes began to appear to me,

Of soldiers, battering in

The Baltic Pine of this ancient door

To slay the soldiers within.

 

There wasn’t a single sound to hear,

There should have been clash and roar,

A mighty battle was raging in

The Black Stone Tower of war.

I called and I called for Evelyn

But there wasn’t a single trace

Of the love that I’d left alone in there,

That now, most terrible place.

 

I ran outside to the edge of the cliff

And stared down into the bay,

And there was the foulest, evil ship

Sails set, for sailing away.

And Evelyn strode down on the beach

While a soldier pulled at her hair,

Dragging her into a longboat as

She fought and struggled down there.

 

But this was a different Evelyn

To the one that I’d left at home,

The girl on the beach was dressed in peach,

My Evelyn dressed in bone,

And not in a full length courtly dress

Like you see from the days of yore,

As her ghostly shadow stepped in the boat

And sailed away from the shore.

 

I turned again to the Black Stone Tower

And the door was back in its frame,

There wasn’t a sign of the bloody cross

That had been there, just as I came.

And Evelyn staggered from out the door

As I cried out, ‘Where have you been?’

And she said sleepily, ‘Don’t be cross,

I’ve had an incredible dream!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Devanshu Rajput]

It seems the same story would have been written by your love as she had a dream, that is most likely to be same as of yours.

You never fail to flabbergast me at the end. I hope never get to a place like The Black Stone Tower, or any place like it.

Thanks for sharing it again.

Devanshu

[Chirag Kumar]

Loved the story. Good flow and filled with suspense. Amazing :)

[emmajoy]

What a great finish - and unexpected! But then, your writing always 'fills the bill' , you tell a tale, you add great characters and places; tone decides whether fact or fiction, romance or mystery.. there are visions or dreams. - the variety is endless. There's always something to carry away whether smiles or shudders, wonder or whatever. And this tale is no excepotion.

David. Your writing never ceases to fascinate; your metre is so impressive, as is your language. This really is finely wrapped piece, turning towards the Gothic.. then the gentle revelation. You've done it again. Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing.

[B]

David this is an incredible poem
A story that is filled with excitement and suspense
I love the ending
It was a dream within a reality
I see so much
An illusion to her worse side
The appearance of this man's fears locked up in the Black Tower
The relief she gives him by telling him its just a dream

I could be very wrong
but this is what i see

On any account
Again i must say
WAW

[Willard Wells]

David, great work. Love the story. Well done as always. i do enjoy reading your work. When I read it I flashed on a movie "Forbidden Planet" from the '50's, which was a take on William Shakespeare's "The Tempest".