The Breakdown

‘I don’t remember a year like this,’

She stood by the window pane,

Staring into the murk and mist,

‘All that it does is rain!

It’s barely stopped for a month or more

And the garden’s all a-flood,

The line is down and the washing’s drowned

And the yard is thick with mud.’

 

I’d just come down from the nearest town

On the other side of the hill,

‘Strange, it hasn’t been raining there

And the sun is shining still.

The mist is clear, just a mile away

And the hedgerow’s full of life,

I came to see if you’d heard or seen

A glimpse of my darling wife?

 

She looked confused for a moment there

Then she shook her head, real slow,

‘I don’t recall if I’ve even seen her

Since she got up to go,

She said she needed to find herself

The girl that she used to be,

Before she married and settled down,

Well, that’s what she said to me.’

 

‘You don’t think she’s had a change of heart,

A tiny hint of regret?

I thought by now she’d have worked it out,

And wouldn’t be so upset.’

‘I doubt if she will be coming back,

She said it wouldn’t be soon,’

I turned away and my face was grey

On that rainy afternoon.

 

She stood up close to the window-sill

And all she could see was rain,

Despite the fact that the sun shone still

And the skies were clear again,

The nurse came in and she said, ‘It’s time,

We must get your wife to bed.’

And I drove over the hill in pain

Just wishing that I was dead!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[alf]

Hi David. I've just been browsing through your portfolio (hope that was okay) and found this wonderful piece. What a poignant story and told with such love and caring. It was sad, sad for the wife and sad for the husband, both perspectives portrayed and both with empathy. I so loved this poem, alf

[TPK Stories]

...was this just a dream...well written David...

[MomzillaNC]

Oh, my… this might be one of the saddest things I've ever read!

[R Smith]

very sad David, the loss and despair are overwhelming in this work, its a really great write and takes us into the depths of sorrow when we see that the wife is lost somewhere in her head, he must go on trying to find a way to continue, must be the worse feeling ever.

I think i'm way behind on RRs, been trying to publish with Amazon Createspace but i don't have Microsoft Office on this comp. and without it it seems i have no chance, guess Microsoft rules the world huh :)

[andrew mitchell]

David this is a knockout round one! a great story perfectly ,poetically spun to have you glued to every word, I'm floored .. Wow!

[Einstein Noodle]

oh man! words are escaped from me on this one .. such a foul blow to hit from out of nowhere .. just too much hurt .. :((((((
wow!
E.

[Valentine]

You hit a hole in my heart with this write. My husband went backward in time overnight from that stroke. He was lost from that point and nothing I did or said could bring him back to me. Now come the tears. Valentine

[Marie]

Poor woman--it will always be raining for her. People who run away to try and find themselves never do catch up. They leave the best part behind.

[ANTO]

Wow David - this is full of love and despair and emotional pain. It reminded me of my old aunt who was lost to us when her mind snapped - she couldnt relate to the real world any longer - she had
raised no less that eight children to full adulthood when that happened. But surprisingly she came out of it and afterwards always referred to it as the time she had the 'sleepy sickness'. The mind is such a strong entity but all it takes is one worry, one fear, one pain too many for it to give.
You told this beautifully DLP. Beautiful melancholy. Thanks for the RR my friend! It always great to read you. :)