Never the God

Your eyes bright, eager and trusting,

Where do we go from here, my son,

I spent my essence, loving and lusting,

Chasing a paper god, my son.

 

I turned my sword to a feathered quill,

Ensnared your mother’s heart, my son,

She loved the god in the paper spill

But never the god in your father, son.

 

We came together when life was full

And loved at the morning light, my son,

‘Til she grew heavy and I grew dull

While you just quickened and grew, my son.

 

Then you burst out like a single star

That beamed from our both horizons, son

We loved you more than the what-we-were

Than ever we loved each other, son.

 

So she grew bitter and sharp of tongue

And I went back to the pen, my son,

But all the words that I’d ever sung

Unravelled in desolation, son.

 

And when she left, she took you too,

The light in my life went out, my son,

I would she’d loved me as I loved you

But love is a laceration, son.

 

Now you have grown, the world’s ahead,

Your eyes are eager and bright, my son;

Don’t spend your essence on paper gods

Or trust in a woman’s love, my son.

 

For dreams and all ambitions fade

When a woman leaves in a storm, my son,

Remember the price that your father paid;

Love sought and lost in a rhyme, my son.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[CRAIG A. THOMSON]

The poignancy and the sadness of this beautiful piece nearly made me cry!
I'm no psycologist, but your guilt and deep regret, which is prominent between every line you've written, appear to me to be an apology to you, as much as anybody else. Stop whipping yourself! At the time it probably all seemed right, but gladly you've learned the error of your ways i.e. the paper side of life is shallow and superficial. We've all been there!
I don't know you from Adam and I don't know the details of the mysterious circumstances that lead to your fall from grace, but you can't and mustn't blame yourself. You were obviously only trying to do what any father would in order to take care of his family. But on a positive note... You know now that it's love that matters. Not paper! So go and find your son. He loves you and now that he's a little older, he'll understand.
I hope I've got this right. If not, I apologise. Thanks for sharing.

[Pól]

Majestic

[clisa]

I love this. I keep wondering about the connection of the title and the rest of the work - it makes the rest of the work more complex.

[Adam Lebzo -RonninWarri..]

Amazing and dazzling as usual, David

[Samuel Dickens]

I'm not positive of your intentions, but I take this literally. My dad, who's long passed, experienced something similar, and it troubled him all his days.

[Saumya]

this is soooooooooooooooo beautiful and lovely......!!!!!!!! very well done !!!!!!!!!!i had never seen such an immense beauty and maturity in any poem!!!!!!!!!!.... each an every word of this piece as if says that i am a real part to describe a real story which is reallly wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Talal Hussain]

amazing composition...loved it :-)

[Carol Ann Ross]

very well written -

[emmajoy]

A sadness of life with a dollop of cynicism maybe.. ' Don’t spend your essence on paper gods ~ Or trust in a woman’s love, my son.'

I've read this three times, once aloud and slowly; the repeated 'my son', 'son' really reached into me because those words are the core of the poem.. for me, anyway. (Having finished my review, see others feel more for the father.. )

Tis criminal the way life crumbles, relationships fall apart. that people get hurt, seldom really recover and end up each with his or her own scars. But there, somewhere in the shadows is so often an onlooker who's yet to move into the light, to learn how to live life away from un-reality. Trouble is, too often warnings and explanations are given way past the darkness, the two too involved in their tragedy.

Methinks this poem comes after that point, is more an apology than a plea. That paper God makes fools of blind men!

[Kristallo]

This is a brilliant and wise piece of writing, David. A father's love and lamentations so beautifully expressed with hints of poignant loss. It's incredible....

"Then you burst out like a single star
That beamed from our both horizons, son".... vivid and delicate choice of words- the universe is all around us and shines within us, too. I adored this poem, for all it's heart and sorrow and refined advise. Well done.