The Terror

He never came out in the daytime, though

He’d always come out at night,

I’d hear his feet, pass in the street

By the gaslamp’s feeble light,

He’d peer through the frosted window glass

And I swear that he always hissed,

Whenever I opened the trap, he’d gone

A-swirl in the yellow mist.

 

We huddled under the chimney piece,

We huddled under the stair,

Whenever his steps were echoing

From here to the you-know-where,

I tried to protect my Carolyn

Who would shut her eyes and ears,

He had the power, for over an hour

To bring Carolyn to tears.

 

He’d come when the frost brought icicles

He’d come when the wind would blow,

He’d come when I left her tricycle

Outside, and covered in snow,

And then when the ice on the window ledge

Began to go crack-crack-crack,

She often hid, right under the lid

Where the firewood lay in a stack.

 

And then when the door blew open, from

A gust in the wind out there,

We’d lie, with fears unspoken

As the creaking rose up the stair,

Then Carolyn shrieked, while I couldn’t speak

For hearing her cries and moans,

As terror spread, from under the bed

And chattered through teeth and bones.

 

I swore that he wore a big black hat

With a brim that covered his eyes,

Carolyn wrote that he wore a cloak

As part of his dread disguise,

But nobody would believe us, ‘til

We heard he was coming back,

His hobnailed boots on the cobblestones

Approached, a-click and a-clack.

 

They’d slow, and stop by the outer door

Our hearts in our mouths, alas,

And then his shadow would fall right there

He’d peer through the frosted glass,

The knocker had an echoing sound

As he knocked, went rat-tat-tat,

And mother leapt to the door in a bound,

‘Dear God! It’s Uncle Jack!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Author's Note

This is my 1,000th Poem, since I began to write poetry in 1966. So 1,000 poems has taken me 48 years.

Reviews

[Barbz]

I am loving his poetry......Depth and simplicity all rolled into one......my grandchildren , likewise , appreciated his poetry as they sat on my bed last night and asked for "just one more"......don't you love positive feedback from wide-eyed children......'n Hey, what about me!!4q

[B.J]

Wow such an incredible read

[Laura Lynn]

I had forgotten that the heart could be in the mouth, I guess it is that way in the writing more what it were to mean, wow really 1,000, that gives me something to work on, I think I'll write at least a thousand lines tomorrow, but then when they get tangled, messed up, I feel like I need to start over or erase them

[TPK Stories]

The ending made me jump...congratulations on writing 1,000 poems. May you write many more.

[icelandicblue]

Your poem is perfectly hypnotic. I found myself leaning forward as i read it. You do tell a story well and you are able to create a palpable mood. Congratulations on your 1000th poem. That is quite an achievement.

[M.A.Rathore]

Soooooooooooo much congratulations for achieving the highest mark of 1000 poems throughout the day you began to write. It is not to be described how you felt this journey. You have received a through change in matter and msnner of poetic composition from the you sat to compose to till date.
As for as for as the poem is concerned, it has all the basic qualities of a great poetry. Such as a particular rhyme scheme along with internal rhymes make your poetry so vibrent that the readers are startled to finish it in a long breath-taking.

Thanks Tate for the opportunity you provide me to read this poem.

May David live long!

[Ness7752]

Good 1000th poem. Brilliant

[wordman]

hell this scared me,but it was just uncle jack lol
congratulations on your 1000 a great story

[Marie]

You know what this makes me think of?Jack the Ripper. Else wy would little Carolyn have been so afraid of him? Perhaps she sensed something. THere was certainly terror enough in that poem.

[Nitesh Mahabal]

Congrats sir, Could See ur vast n wonderful xpereince of writing in ur well narrated work