The Final Party

He’d lain in the septic, hospital bed,

Was terminal, slipping away,

‘He won’t last forever,’ the nurses said,

‘Will probably go today.’

So they put him on a morphine drip

To ease the man of his plight,

‘He looks so grey, and is on his way,

I think he’ll be dead tonight.’

But deep in the slumbering fellow’s head

There wasn’t a shred of gloom,

A party was raging within his bed,

And filling that hospital room,

There were friends and folk he’d always known,

A neighbour he knew as Jim,

And there in a party dress, on her own,

That wonderful girl called Kim.

Would she even give him a second glance

He’d thought, in a sort of dread,

He’d seen her first at the village dance,

And now she was deep in his head.

Her lips were full and her eyes were brown

And her teeth were even and white,

He thought that his courage might let him down

Then swore, ‘she’ll be mine tonight.’

He nodded his head to a favourite tune

As tremors invaded his pillow,

Balloons were popping all through the room,

He stood by a favourite willow,

And Kim was paddling in the brook

That bubbled and babbled, madly,

He took a breath and a long last look,

He knew that he wanted her badly.

She turned and smiled, and walked to his bed,

And gave her lips to be kissed there,

She shimmered and swayed as his vision fled

And he stood alone by her grave there,

His smile was soft as the lights went out

And a nurse looked over him gravely,

‘At last he’s gone, I knew him as John,

He went to the other side bravely.’

They stripped his bed and they laid him out,

‘I remember his wife,’ one sighed,

Her name was Kim, and she doted on him,

It must be a year since she died.’

‘Who knows what happens to those who pass,’

A nurse said, folding the sheeting,

‘I’d like to think they’re together at last,

If just for a moment, fleeting…’

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[A Soap Mess Stories]

A wonderful perception of death and dying and the hope of a life there-after. Excellent reading!

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed this story in the poetry. I liked the conversation and the hope. The couple found each other. Thank you David for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[KT-B]

Excellent work - your writing is so clever and always tells a wonderful story, I love reading your work - thank you for sharing and keeping us all entertained so well :)

[Kelly Scheppers]

Your perception of death and dying was wonderfully spoken, and I was utterly delighted with the closure you gave.

Nice to meet you, David!

[Avinash]

Death has proposition of reuniting two lovers. This seemed like an eternal tale of two lovers. We may come to know once we go on the other side.

[Jane Winters Rogers]

Deep thoughts, soft tender love story, you have Definately caught me...I think it is fabulous and
That your mind is amazing,thank you for sharing the deep feelings that can only be a mirror into your soul....
I cried ..you ...depicted what death must be and the enduring magic that is love
Thank you
.https://www.facebook.com/jane.rogers.756#

[The Iron Horseman]

Absolutely lovely. Great rhyming scheme and rhythm conveying a heart-warming sentiment. Well done.