Angel Dust

You said that you came from Angel Dust

When I saw you emerge from mist,

Your hair was covered with spangles, and

Gold bangles dangled each wrist,

Your bare feet trampled the Autumn leaves

Whose gold reflected on high,

The rest of you, like some ancient rust,

That’s when I knew you’d die.

And then I awoke and saw you there

Asleep in our giant bed,

All thoughts of a gold goddess were fairly

Skittering from my head,

Your breath, it was long and laboured, and

Your hair, it was falling out,

With tufts of it on the pillow there

The chemo had left no doubt.

And all the love that I had for you

Poured out of my aching heart,

At least I knew that you loved me too,

You’d said we would never part,

But nobody told this grim disease

That came to you in a flood,

To desecrate your perfection, then

To end with you coughing blood.

You begged to me that I end it, that

I put out the final light,

That thing I loved, that I rend it, that

You wouldn’t put up a fight,

I wept as I kissed you one last time

Held on till I stopped your breath,

And felt you fall from me, after all

Through the final stages of death.

And then in the early morning as

I stood distraught by the bed,

I thought that I saw you rise again

Though I knew you were surely dead,

And I thought that you came from Angel Dust

When you wandered into the mist,

For your hair was covered with spangles, and

Gold bangles dangled each wrist.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Helen Crutchett]

Oh, David this was so heart-wrenching to read. I don't have any more words to say ...only tears.

[Tony Jordan]

A beautifully sad write.
The repeated beginning and end - the Alpha and Omega.
Powerful yet so very gentle.
Amazing

[A Soap Mess Stories]

The images you drew of love and the pain to end the life of a loved one from a tragic disease like cancer...hauntingly beautiful...

[Coyote Poetry]

A sad and powerful tale written my friend. You create beauty, a mercy and the ending. Left the reader with visions of something lost and new pain gained. Thank you David for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Valentine]

This one gave me chills. They wanted my husband on life supports, but he had told me for years he would never want to go that way. Not wanting to see that suffering pain in his eyes I did his wishes, why hang on to a vegetable. Yet I still wonder what if at times. Valentine

[Chilson, Joshua]

Even in the dark you find beauty and lay it across thorough with words and painted imagery. I admire your work and the depth you take people to. I can relate by family to this poem, thanks again for the request.

[D Connolly]

Ugh, cancer. The absolute worst disease I've ever seen! How sad that her love had to end it for her. But to watch her rise again in glory, with bangles and spangles and happy; dancing off into the mist! I love it

[Barbz]

How beautiful and heart-wrenching....how could one not cry. Your words cover the sadness of any loss that affects ones heart, rains on their parade or boggles ones mind! love it....Barbz