Waiting for You!

I wasn’t impressed with the spiked black railings

Keeping the residents in,

They swept around to the padlocked gates

Like a prison for mortal sin,

But the signs said ‘Happiness Reigns Within "

The end of their lives secure,’

‘The Five Star Capital Home for Nursing,

Bring your old to our door.’

I’d only gone to be shown around,

I’d said my aunt wasn’t safe,

She wouldn’t stay in her cottage grounds

But wandered all over the place.

She needed care, ‘which is why I’m here,’

I said, but really I lied,

Some friends had asked I embrace the task

To get a good look inside.

I got to wander around the grounds,

I even shook off the guide,

I settled down in their dim-lit lounge

And watched for the ones that cried.

A woman, clad in a shawl was there,

Who wept, so no-one could see,

Who dabbed her eyes, then in some surprise

She sat there, staring at me.

I didn’t think she’d remember me

We were friends some years before,

But she’d succumbed to dementia then

While scrubbing the kitchen floor,

She’d wandered out in a busy street

Was almost hit by a bus,

The ambulance driver said, ‘Who’s she?’

And I said, ‘She’s one of us.’

I noticed then, she never came home

And her husband said, ‘She’s gone!’

He wasn’t too stable then himself

And he went, before too long.

I sat with her in the Nursing Home

And I held her trembling hand,

She said she didn’t remember me

But she asked me, where was Sam?

The question came as a shock to me

For her husband, Sam, was there,

From where she sat she could surely see

Him straight across, in a chair,

They’d seen each other each day, it seems

He'd not remembered a trace,

Their marriage lost in swirl of dreams

And she'd forgotten his face.

I tried to trigger their memories

Remind them that they had loved,

Had lived together for fifty years

Whenever he'd pushed, she shoved.

But Jennifer took one look at Sam

And twisted her gaze away,

‘I’m certain that he couldn’t be my man,

He has so little to say.’

When next I heard, she had gone back home,

Her mind as clear as a bell,

My friends said I must have shaken her up,

They’d never seen her so well.

But still she wept for her Sam at night,

Said where on earth could he be,

So I went back to that house of hell,

Brought Sam back out on a ‘Free’.

Some places hold their own loving spell,

The very air is bewitched,

And Jennifer’s house was enchanted with

A spell from the house to the ditch.

When she saw Sam on the bluebell path

Uncertain of what to do,

She rushed straight into his arms and cried,

‘My love, I’ve been waiting for you!’

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

Very tender and poignant. I enjoyed reading this love story with its many supernatural turn of events. Your poetic skills have the facets of a Diamond.....very precious in its value to your audience. Thank you DLP for your contributions and always bringing it home......Barbz

[Calamityofgin]

Some places hold their own loving spell,
The very air is bewitched,
And Jennifer’s house was enchanted with
A spell from the house to the ditch.
When she saw Sam on the bluebell path
Uncertain of what to do,
She rushed straight into his arms and cried,
‘My love, I’ve been waiting for you!’

You mih dear darlin Paget have made a wet mess a mih face! I think i told you of mih Ozarks hillbilly fondness for good rhyme and a story tell..well mih good man with your kind heart and house of hell..you have made this lil gals heart a swell!
I loved the images you so vividly present and an important message Thats right recieved darlin
Not shoved down ones throat mind you
..good boy! For that...
Oh sweet! Loved...eager for more.

Respect and wishes of great love
Calamity of Jennifer

[RomaJ]

Aw, this was such a heartwarming tale. Truly heart-warming. Very romantic and charming. I love this.
"My love, I've been waiting for you!" beautiful piece and a delight to read.

[ANTO]

"...she’d succumbed to dementia then
While scrubbing the kitchen floor..." - wow - expertly penned mental montage David. Domesticity the diary of her life.

I loved this one. Really spoke to my romantic heart. Like Brigadoon in a way with a topical modern twist.
Pure Class DLP.