The Strongman

I called her once, then I called again

And I called throughout the night,

There wasn’t a message from Olwen’s pen

Nor the answering ‘ching’ of delight,

I’d begged forever her not to go

But she must have gone and went,

Down to the Fair at Cinders Flo

And into the strongman’s tent.

We’d been together to see the Fair

When the sun was riding high,

And all the rides and the Ferris Wheel

Were reeling up in the sky,

We rolled a ball at the grinning clowns

And we won a Teddy Bear,

The hairy woman and legless man,

All of the freaks were there.

But then we got to the Strongman’s tent

And I saw her eyes go wide,

He picked her up with a single hand

And I’ll swear that Olwen sighed,

I found I couldn’t drag her away,

She paid for a second show,

And after stroking his biceps once

She waved for me to go.

I had to drag her away from there

Or she would have stayed all day,

‘What do you find so interesting?’

I finally had to say.

‘Isn’t he such a mighty man

And his muscles ripple so,

He makes me feel like I want to squeal

Like a Tarzan’s Jane, you know.’

I finally went to Cinders Flo

In the middle of the night,

Thinking the end of me and Olwen

Seemed to be in sight,

I got to his tent, and there she was,

A-stare, a look aghast,

For what she had woken up was slim,

She saw the truth at last.

For there hanging up within the tent

Was the Strongman’s muscle suit,

With every ripple and every bulge

And a chest that was hirsute,

But he sat up in his lonely bed

And was pale and thin and white,

With a certain wiry toughness, though

He could never cause delight.

I think that it cured my Olwen though

She’s never been so still,

She spends her mornings and afternoons

Hung over the window-sill,

I try to get her to walk with me

But she can’t, she says, she hates,

She’s staring down at the guy next door

As he’s working out, with weights.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Tony Jordan]

The wimpy guy in a muscleman's suit is priceless as is the ending - great twist! That guy needs to get him some barbells (maybe the fake one's with black balloons on the end) to keep this girl !!
Very witty David Lewis-Paget

[D Connolly]

Oh Olwen, you are scandalous! I love your stories David. So much fun