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!

[Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin]

I love this. This is so well written, and it's so creepy, it gives me the goose bumps! Great job once again!

[TPK Stories]

Sounded a little eerie, sorta like the supernatural. Loved it.

[David Scott]

What a deal! Ha. Maybe not...
I have always felt I wanted an old soul for myself. The more ancient the better.
A new body... Now that sounds grand!
I enjoyed the tale from the great Welsh bard.