The Last Word

And so to this then,

The last word on the last word penned.

The tides of life have caught me unaware,

And in the depths and shallows

I have found my heart’s despair.

Buoyed on the breakers

Floundering in the troughs,

A sense of life and love was all

I ever really lost.

Surging at the floodtide,

Clawing at the rip,

I foundered on your reef

Like some old, grey ship.

 

But now as you lie

In your straight, narrow bed

Made three years long

By this self-same head,

My heart lies wrecked

On my own home shore...

If I’d loved you less

You’d have loved me more.

If the then was the now

As it was, once more,

I would seal my lips

As I’ve done before,

I’d release my mind

From this butcher’s hook...

And I’d tear every page

From your colouring book.

 

David Lewis Paget