The Harkness Light

We lived on a tiny spit of land

That they called the Harkness Light,

It sat on a reef, a mile of sand

And it beamed out through the night,

There was just myself, and my darling wife

By the name of Jennifer,

But when I went up to tend the light,

He was below, with her.

 

I was supposed to be on my own

But he brought the cutter out,

Every time that they feared a storm

He’d come, and put her about,

Tie her up to the wooden dock

When the tide was on the rise,

And burst on in to our tiny room

With a wild look in his eyes.

 

‘I’ve come to be of assistance, Joe,

There’s a storm front coming in,’

‘I think we can manage it ourselves,’

I’d say, with a touch of vim,

I never could trust those smiling eyes

Or that set of perfect teeth,

He made me think of a circling shark

Like the ones beyond the reef.

 

But Jennifer always welcomed him

With one of her gracious smiles,

She hadn’t a frown for anyone

And her smile would beam for miles,

‘It’s lovely to have some company,’

She’d say, when a storm was nigh,

And cold, black angry thunderheads

Had filled the darkening sky.

 

He wasn’t of any assistance, he

Would sit and drink our tea,

While I would climb to the light alone

He wasn’t much use to me,

I began to suspect his visits there

Were more to do with her,

I knew that he was attracted to

My darling Jennifer.

 

It came to a head one night when I

Came down to find them hushed,

With Jennifer disarranged, and when

I looked at her, she blushed,

I knew that I had to do something

But what? It chilled my blood,

That one of these days she’d slip away

And I’d lose my wife for good.

 

I said, ‘I need your assistance, Chris,

To change the carbon arc,

We’d better get up on top or else

All they will see is dark.

I followed him up the winding stair

But carried a bar of lead,

And when we arrived at the topmost stair

I hit him, over the head.

 

It doesn’t take much to truss a man

When he’s out, stone cold for the count,

I tied his back to the outer rail

And facing the light, its mount,

And then I plastered his eyelids wide

So he couldn’t take his sight

Away from that glaring carbon arc

That made up the Harkness Light.

 

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Chris

Had screamed on his coming to,

I said, ‘I’m protecting Jennifer

From the leery eyes of you.

You shouldn’t come on to another’s wife

For you know, it’s just not right,

I’ll do whatever I have to do

If it makes you see the light.’

 

That light burnt into his very brain

As he cursed, and cried, and swore,

His eyes could never survive the pain

Of a million candle power,

I went below and I said to her

‘Go up and set him free,

You’ll have to gentle him down the stair,

I don’t think he can see.’

 

It seems that I bet on a loser

For she left me anyway,

‘How could you be so cruel,’ she said,

As she left, the following day,

I heard they’re living together now

But I’m comforted at night,

That when she strips off her clothes for him

All he sees is the Harkness Light.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[ANTO]

Outdone yourself again David. I really really liked this one. Im gonna run out of ways to praise your poems soon. You never ever disappoint. What a brilliant story - fate is what it is and the guy probably pushed his wife into the arms of the very man he feared would woo her away from him, with his cruelty. She saw the light too - saw what kind of man she had took up with.
This is pure class DLP
amazing - Im speechless - almost speechless.

[Marie]

Well he shouldn't have done that, should he. ANTO is right. I don't think she had much choice but to leave him. And who needs sight in bed...?