The Timeless Cave in the Cliff

He found a little frequented cove

As he sailed the Southern Seas,

An island, not on a current map,

But one bereft of trees,

I only know, for he left a note

In that cave, way up in the cliff,

And it’s had me wondering ever since

Not how, or why, but if?

 

What was left of his boat was there

Washed high, out there on the shore,

Battered and beaten by storm and tide

Ten years, or maybe more,

The Isle was barren and treeless, not

One thing would pleasure the eye,

Except the cave in the towering cliff

Well up in the face, and high.

 

I anchored there and I rowed ashore

Then I walked around to the face,

Somebody else had been there before,

A rope was still in place,

I’d never been much of a climber, but

I scaled that rope all right,

Just as the sun was going down

So I had to spend the night.

 

The face of the cave was sheltered, and

The weather, it wasn’t cold,

I curled up deep in a corner ‘til

The dark had entered my soul,

I dreamt of many a sailing ship

And men of a stately mien,

Who stalked grim-faced through a whirlpool race

In a land that I’d never seen.

 

And up above was a starlit sky

That had seemed to spin and curve,

Taking the glow of the Pole Star south

With the curvature of the earth,

I woke when the first few beams of dawn

Shone in from a blighted sea,

Where my boat had tugged at its moorings

In an effort to cast it free.

 

The cave led into a passageway

That was dimly lit in the dawn,

I ventured along it gingerly

Over moss, as green as lawn,

Then I came on a line of candles, set

In the rock to light the way,

Into the heart of a grotto there

Where a pool of water lay.

 

The pool was glowing an azure blue

From a light reflected below,

That shone back down from the ceiling rock

In a shifting, glittering show,

And beyond the pool was an altar there

That hadn’t been made by man,

Of shining stars and a crescent moon

And a figure that looked like Pan.

 

I tip-toed cautiously round the edge

Of the pool til I came to stand

Right in front of the altar there,

Half covered with silt and sand,

And lying crouched at the side of it

Was a huddle of ancient bones,

That lone seafarer who’d left his yacht

And followed these stepping stones.

 

The bones lay there in a deep despair

As of one who’d given up hope,

He must have come with the boat out there

And climbed with that length of rope,

But the bones were grey, looked terribly old

Too old for that boat, it’s true,

With the fingers gripping a note, half ripped,

The one that I’ll read to you.

 

‘You’ve come to an Isle where there is no time,

So take this note and be gone,

I came, like you, from out of the blue

When I woke, time travelled on.

The stars spin crazily every night

And they thrust me into the past,

I woke to find that my boat had gone

And the cove was covered in grass.’

 

‘It could be a million years ago

It could be a future time,

The sea has receded, that I know

And the year, it isn’t mine.

The altar glows with the crescent moon

When a major shift occurs,

And the devil man that looks like Pan,

I think that his seed is cursed.’

 

I took the note and I stumbled out

Of the cave, and slid the rope,

Then ran back over the beach, and rowed

Back out to my world, my boat.

I hadn’t been more than an hour away

When the heavens went black, and weird,

I looked behind and I feared to find

The Island had disappeared!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

'‘It could be a million years ago | It could be a future time, | The sea has receded, that I know | And the year, it isn’t mine. The altar glows with .. .. '

David, this is -, as your writing always is, SUPERB!

Your story telling in such fine metre is second to none and, as someone who can't rhyme the cat sat on the mat but has tried time and time again, i admire your skills enormously.

By the by, love the theme of the story within, reminds me of Poe or Ingoldsby.. but somehow has a shadow of the spiritual

So hope your other fans appear in droves to leave the praise you so richly deserve.

[Lena M. P.]

This one reminds me of the movie Brigadoon that I love so much. Very good poem David. Loved it.

[Colorado Brian]

I read this in pure awe of your imagination and ability to put it to words in poetry. I could not be more pleased with having access to read your writing.

[Tate Morgan]

I loved it and loved the sublime passages below most What a tale and yet the one that got away was surprising as it is so rare to escape fate so.

[Tate Morgan]

‘You’ve come to an Isle where there is no time,

So take this note and be gone,

I came, like you, from out of the blue

When I woke, time travelled on.
One of your best so far it was sublime I loved this magic passage best

The stars spin crazily every night
And they thrust me into the past,
I woke to find that my boat had gone
And the cove was covered in grass.’

[TL Boehm]

A wonderful story with just a splash of terror in it. Time travel is such a heady concept - and I ponder about places, wild places where the laws as we know them, of nature, and time, are not obeyed. This one - it is one of those poems that I wish had a sequel. Did he return home? What was the altar? Makes me curious

[Avinash]

The adventurous journey from first word to last keeps the readers on edge and rewards them with the matching thrilling conclusion. I can't thank you enough for inviting to this tale of mystery and adventure.

[Marie]

It sounds as if he got just in time. Yet the cave itself seems beautiful, with its candles and gittering pool. I shouldn't think Pan had anything to do with this; he was a god ot=f the woods.

[Zahra]

Marvellous write, thanks for sharing