New Souls for Old

Whenever the sun sinks down in the west

And the stars come out at night,

The birds return to their cosy nests

And a stray dog barks in fright,

I hear the click of the front door lock

And I let the blinds unfold,

Then hear the whisper behind the clock,

That says, ‘New souls for old!’

 

And down at the end of the darkened street

Is a man with a horse and dray,

He wears thick felt on his padded boots

And his voice seems far away,

The sacks piled up on the cart are new

And they jump about in the cold,

But his voice gets louder on his approach,

He says, ‘New souls for old!’

 

So nobody opens their door at night

‘Til the man and his dray have passed,

But peer in fright, and put out the light

Then hold their breath to the last,

They hide their children under the stairs

But the voice wafts in from the cold,

It seems to come from under the chairs

And it says, ‘New souls for old!’

 

The mirror under the hallway clock

Is hard in the dark to see,

But when I head for the door to lock

Reflects a vision of me,

The eyes are evil, the mouth is grim

And the chin is jutting and bold,

The brow is furrowed and creased with sin

As I hear, ‘New souls for old!’

 

One night as the gas lamps sputtered out

At the farther end of the street,

I heard the clop of his horse’s hooves

As I strode on out to meet,

The man peered out from under his hood

And told me the price, fourfold,

I’d have to be willing to take his place

To get a new soul for old!

 

So now I wander the streets at night

Wrapped up in a cloak and hood,

I feel the evil leaching away

As I work for the greater good,

The sacks piled up on the cart are new

And they jump about in the cold,

I’m waiting for someone to take my place

As I say, ‘New souls for old!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

No similarity at all here; but the word twist reminds me of another Twilight Zone episode entitled, 'To Serve Man.' It featured the Kanamits - 9-foot tall aliens who had come to earth supposedly to help us, to serve man. A handbook that was deciphered turned out to be a cookbook and To Serve Man went from helping man, to serving him on a platter for dinner. Words can have multiple meanings, and the definition defined differently depending on one person's agenda vs. another. Perception is everything!

[TL Boehm]

Oh my what a twist in this surreal tale - A job I would not want for sure. Such a stellar write.

[Tate Morgan]

Faustian deal for you there man.But But what is a soul worth. I often wondered If a man dies and was brought back would he be soulless?

[Ravyne Hawke]

Great twist at the end.. I didn't get an evil sense from this though, a bit eerie in places, but not really evil. So I guess they really are working for the good. Wonderful work as always, David.

[Baby Ricochet]

Now that's taking a devil's bargain

[Anand Sehgal]

The sacks piled up on the cart are new
And they jump about in the cold,
But his voice gets louder on his approach,
He says, ‘New souls for old!’

So natural Imagery. So vivid.
Loved it Sir :)

[Marie]

THis is not the first story I've read of someone taking the Grim Reaper's place...

[minisla]

Really like the line "And a stray dog barks in fright". Reminds of a story I heard think it was something to do with the grim reaper gathering souls but there is a twist in this where you end up as the guy. Really captivated by this one.

[s y e]

This is quite spooky, David. I loved the structure and the wording of this write. The last stanza is really spooky. Awesome.

~ Noodlehead

[Keith]

Superb, that sets up a wonderful cadence .... and that creepy last line of every stanza. Indeed a classic.