The Experiment

The weather was starting to worry me,

The days were hot and the nights like ice,

The winds were gusting and hailstones

Were battering down on the roof, like rice.

Marie was listless and wandered about

She wouldn’t get dressed until way past noon,

She’d toss and turn in her sleep, and shout:

‘The man with the beard will be coming soon!’

 

I didn’t know what she had meant by that

I couldn’t be bothered to ask her why,

She said she soon had a sense of doom

The way of the world was passing by.

We stood outside on a starless night

And she pointed up to a cloud on high,

‘I saw a hand in the dawning light

That plucked each star from the morning sky!’

 

I slept but fitfully after that

My dreams were troubled by what she’d said,

They’d taken the blue from the morning sky

Had withered and rolled up the garden bed.

He’d come to ruin the countryside

Put all the trees in a cardboard box,

Took all the daisies and all the weeds

And ripped them out with the hollyhocks.

 

While strange marauders wandered the land

And one-eyed women disturbed my head,

They bred like rabbits and grains of sand,

‘We’re here to do what our masters said!’

The seas were suddenly drained and gone

All that was left was a dusty plain,

‘The earth is finished,’ a voice then said,

All I could see was a Moon terrain.

 

Then lightning crackled over our heads

And thunder rolled like a toll of doom,

I lay awake in my narrow bed

And watched Marie, who stood in the gloom.

‘A new Dark Age has begun tonight,

He said that he’d given us all he had,

Would try again when the time was right,

But packed the Moon in his travelling bag.’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

The seasons may be out of season and the world may well meet apocolyptic end; but your writing will stand the test of time, as long as I'm living, my wondrous friend. I can only wonder at the grief we have put our maker through, but there are glimmers of hope in those such as you. This is a brilliantly penned poem, and I love it. It is probably the second most memorable of yours that I've ever read, the first being, "The Wedding of Jenny McGill."

[annie lee]

Is this an apocalyptic scenario? It certainly sounds like one. How heartbreaking to witness, how daunting to accept.

[TL Boehm]

Even more chilling than a traditional "horror" story. The stuff of nightmares. Such unique imagery in this - taking the blue from the sky - pulling up the green...packing up the moon. Wow.

[Baby Ricochet]

Chicks with one eye don't do it for me either

[Enid Blake]

Short and sweet.. or should I go for sinister. I like how you've used a different meter, took me a moment to throw your voice off and find the new flow!

[Katie Lynn]

Terrific! But really sort of dark for you. I have to say I like your happier works better, but needless to say this is beautiful. Although I did trip up on the line "All was that was left was a dusty plain." I'm not sure if you meant for the first "was" to be there or if it was a typo.

Please, never stop writing! :-)

[Tate Morgan]

Well there is a tale of woe and doom for you. Cant have that Dave I need something happier lol

[Marie]

So...Earth was born in a test tube and then thrown away...