The Birthing

The rain swiftly flowed down the gutters,

The thunder roared out overhead,

The wind whistled in through the falling leaves

Of the trees that were thought to be dead,

And Annie stared out of the window

Was trapped at the height of the storm,

She should have been down at the hospital,

Her baby was soon to be born.

But she saw that the driveway was empty,

For Tom had gone out with the car,

She hoped and she prayed that he’d reappear

For surely he hadn’t gone far.

Contractions were now just a minute apart

That she timed on the clock on the wall,

And let out a moan when the clock chimed a tone

She knew she was weak, and might fall.

She’d not really wanted this baby,

Had argued with Tom when he came,

The shadow that climbed through her window that night

Had brought her perpetual shame,

It wasn’t as if she had known him,

He came under cover of night,

Then planted within her his darkness,

She felt there was something not right.

And now there was no-one to help her,

No nurse or midwife at her bed,

The doctor expected a troubled birth

To go by the things that he said,

And now the involuntary pushing

That thrust her down onto the floor,

Three fingers dilated, the birth that she hated

Would leave her both chastened and sore.

The child started coming despite her,

She screamed as the head became free,

Then felt as if claws and the ripping of jaws

Were tearing her clear to the knee,

But then it lay out on the carpet,

Its little dark face creased with joy,

And Tom, looking down, had said with a frown,

‘It has horns, but at least, it’s boy!’

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[A Soap Mess Stories]

A scary but delightful twist to this story.

[Helen Crutchett]

OMG! What a scary but awesome poem. Very entertaining as all your tales are!

H.

[Coyote Poetry]

A perfect ending my friend. I liked the story in the poem and the surprising ending. Thank you David for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[Jane Winters Rogers]

Oh my !!! .....David that's one of the frightening poems I have ever read. The
Ending was shocking and the way we ( the readers) were led a if by you hand
To that horrible ending.!! Excellent

[Valentine]

Wow, You blew me away with that surprise ending. I figured the baby wasn't Toms, but must have been the devil doing his sneaky work. Valentine