How the Eye Deceives

a reposting from 1997.

I walked to the back verandah

And stared at the midnight sky,

The moon, long gone, lay hidden

By the rainclouds, up on high,

The wind howled out in the treetops

Then grunted back through the eaves,

My mood was black as the midden,

I thought - “How the eye deceives.”

 

You lay with your back towards me

As you’d often lain in the past

When the gods of war were stalking

And your eyes turned red, and flashed.

My life, like the earth, was turning

While all you could do was weep,

And the pit of misunderstanding

Lay there, where you fell asleep.

 

I’d read in your daily journal

Some thoughts of yours that bled,

And knew that my life was over

From the words I’d found in your head.

We flared, dashed flints at each other

That sparked, lit fear and doubt,

While the storm outside kept building

And the fire in the hearth went out.

 

At two, or three in the morning

I rose with a fevered moan,

I thought that the air might soothe me

So staggered outside, alone;

But there by the back verandah

The earth had split like a pea,

Our path tailed off to nothing

While a planet lay in our tree.

 

And there lay a pit of darkness

Like no-one had ever seen,

A silence deep and deadly

So quiet, it drew me in;

I almost lost my balance

To fall in the deadly pit

Where not a star had glimmered,

No God had ever lit.

 

You lay with your back towards me

In peace, asleep, in bliss,

While I crawled round on the carpet

And punched at the mantlepiece,

Then madly I raised the covers

And dropped them again, in dread,

I sat on the floor ‘til morning…

The stars shone under our bed!

 

You woke with a gentle shudder

And rolled to face me then,

Reached out, and smiled at the morning

And said - “I love you,” then;

I felt the world come together,

A gentle breath at the eaves,

The stars were back in the heavens;

I thought - ‘How the eye deceives.’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

Such an intriguing story of conflict and torment caused by a misunderstanding. The symbol of the "hole " and deep darkness is meaningful and the reaction thereat "the eye deceives" is indeed astounding. I like the way it was ended with reconciliation and the disappearance of the hole with the new day and the "stars were back in the heavens."

[Emerald Seas]

David, this is wonderfully written. The roller coaster of emotion when love seems to be falling apart you've captured that feeling so well in this poem. I have to remind myself as a writer that what I am reading of someone else, the writing may be from another time, a different momentary feeling than what is currently present... and something to remember when reading someone's journal. Many words, thoughts, feelings in the heat of the moment pass us by and we are left with our true intent... but others may misjudge by what we have done or said.
Wonderful, profound writing!

[Penlady]

You've described all of PASSION and that roller coaster of emotion that can drain, until the FEELING of love iis brought home again! Marvelous, descriptions you afford with each write!

[...]

Briilliant!

[Tate Morgan]

This took me for a familiar ride How often we misjudge each others intentions dont you think ? I was immediately back 4 yrs being divorced and led asunder.How soon after i was happy again in love with a new woman.Similar in its scope. Its all in the perception isnt it .

[Marie]

The eye does indeed decieve--or our dreams. A look into darkness; very well done.