Lost Moment

I’d only been gone for a moment,

A moment was all that it took,

And up to the edge of that moment

I’d been sitting, and reading a book,

Then I looked up and saw you were staring,

But your eyes were glazed over, I see,

And I swear you weren’t looking, but glaring

At something you hated in me.

Then the room began twisting and turning

To the sound of the storm’s rapid roar,

As it went racing up to the ceiling,

And dived in a twirl to the floor,

It snatched at the book I’d been reading

And it flung it straight up in the air,

On the cover it said ‘Time is Bleeding’,

And I thought, ‘I don’t want to go there.’

Still you clung to your chair, my Miranda,

While the furniture skittered and slid,

Some had headed out to the veranda

Where the glockenspiel lay on its lid,

But your face and your skin became older,

As the years yet to come hurried by,

And the air in the room became colder

When I heard, ‘You’re much younger than I.’

And that’s when I felt it receding,

That eddying moment of time,

That had shown me the love that was bleeding

It hadn’t been yours, it was mine,

I sheltered there on the veranda

From the clinical glance of your gaze,

For time was against you, Miranda,

And it showed, in a myriad ways.

I’d only been gone for a moment,

A moment was all that it took,

And up to the edge of that moment

I’d been sitting, and reading a book,

Then the storm battered in through the shutters,

And it snatched at the book in my hand,

But you’d gone, slipped away down the gutters

With all I had loved in the land.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Seems one can be so lost in words written, it's too easy to be lost to the spoken word.. and that's when Miranda and all other names disappear, fade away, never to be seen again. Tis amazing how distracting books can be they can take you prisoner, remove you from reality and.. then water.. loneliness perhaps?! !

As always your meter and the flow of your tale is second to none, David!

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Well written tale full of suspense as always...

[Lady Lola]

A beautiful piece about the passage of time and the change in relationships and people.
Sadly, love can slip through our fingers if we're not careful.
It also feels like a ghost story.

[James]

I really enjoyed this one as well. I read it several times and each time it just got better. Time is against us all.

[Norman 223]

I loved the style of this, David It reminds me of the old Bush Poetry with its rhythms and wry sentiment, in which humour masks the tears. It's one of my favourite genres and my family, who are now all Aussie citizens send me a new collection every Christmas.
Norman

[R Smith]

an extraordinary work of art David, exciting imagery and a maze of twists and turns had me dazzled and befuddled all the way, brilliant my friend :)

[Breanna Riddle]

You never fail to disappoint David. Your work is so captivating and I love it. I do apologize though for no reading them sooner. I just haven't had the time, but now that I do I will continue to read your amazing writes. Great write keep it up!!

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

I found myself laughing at the irony of the reality you have so elegantly painted to page ... Relationships are made and lost in a moment ... To us men, the things we choose to occupy ourselves with only take but a moment, as we fail to realize that we were once infatuated with occupying ourselves with that woman we said we loved ... Somehow, the fire dies out, and we don't even notice it, or pretend not to, and in the process people drift apart from one another, until finally they are together no more ... When a man gets to where he prefers a good book to a warm woman, there is either something wrong with the man, or the book is much warmer than the woman ... LOL! ... As always, I enjoyed your writing, and you gave me cause to pause and contemplate, along with a little laugh ...

[Terrence Chang]

Good write Mr David. Even though I don't review most of your works, know that I avidly read your works and I love all of them

[Valentine]

This says so much it takes reading more than once to get its full depth. Love bleeding out from the inside, a good choice of words. Sad and dark but written so well. Valentine