Jealousy

There was someone I detested at

The edges of my dream,

He was sneaky, underhanded and

I thought him quite unclean,

For he knew my life with Candace

Had then almost run its course,

He was waiting in the wings; I said,

‘Don’t take my wife by force.’

And he smiled, but somewhat grimly

In the way he had back then,

As if he would do whatever

To ensnare my wife again,

But I said, ‘Don’t even think it,

Though you had your chance before,

If you even make a move on her

It’s like declaring war.’

He could tell then that I meant it

Just by looking in my eyes,

They were red, and so distended

That he backed off, he was wise,

But it didn’t help my marriage

For her love had run its course,

And she told me in our carriage that

She wanted a divorce.

I had tried my best to please her

But my efforts went unsung,

I’d played hard to get, to tease her

Years before, when we were young,

And I’d won her then, from Anson

Who’d refused to go away,

And had hung around forever

Right up to the present day.

I had said it was unhealthy to have

Ex’s hanging round,

But Candace said, ‘He’s just a friend,

Don’t make him feel put down.’

She didn’t think how I would feel

To always have him there,

At times when we should be alone,

He’d sit awhile, and stare.

So she left me on a Monday and

She barely said goodbye,

I wandered round the empty house

But found I couldn’t cry,

For anger welled up in me when

I saw them walking past,

Arm in arm and laughing and

Together now, at last.

Emotions so intense rise up

To twist a jilted brain,

I swear I wasn’t in control,

I must have been insane,

I traced them to his caravan

And waited till she left,

Then went to get some petrol

I was feeling so bereft.

I waited til the early hours

When he would be alone,

Then poured it underneath the door

Of this, his mobile home,

I thought, ‘I’ll fix his little scheme,’

And stood, and watched it pour,

Then lit it with a single spark,

It went up with a roar.

I had to stand and watch it then

The fruits of my despair,

I heard a scream, as in a dream

The door flung open there,

And Candace stood, encased in flame,

She shrivelled as she stood,

All black and burned, revenge had turned

Destroyed my neighborhood.

They didn’t find too much of him

And she died on the grass,

They found me weeping in the gloom

When once the fire had passed,

And so I stare out blindly now

Through bars of hardened steel,

They wouldn’t need to lock me in,

I’ve ceased to see or feel.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Summer Nazarian]

Jealousy is the worst emotion ever. I know some exes that thinks like the character in your poem. Great work. Great read!

[AYVID N]

The story had me spellbound, the rhyming had me captivated.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

A good description of what jealousy can do when we let it reign inside us. Nicely penned.

[Ellen Hammond]

A brilliantly penned warning of what can happen if we allow jealousy to consume us.

[Carol Cashes]

The rhyming scheme works, the story flows effortlessly, and one can guess many things about where this tale was headed, but after the murder is introduced, it seems perfectly natural. This is quite a good read to start my day. Thank you.

[Tony Jordan]

Hah - my good friend's eyes bulge when she is angry and by 'eck, it's a scary sight so I could see the hubby here giving the 'evils' to handsome Anson!

Wow - struck blind by guilt. A cracking case of karmic justice. Love can morph into obsessiveness but by then there is no more love - only possessiveness and envy.
Brill DLP!

Hope you're well my man?