The Prince in the Garden Shed

I’d see strange lights in the garden shed

When I’d wake in the early hours,

Hanging out of the bedroom window,

Blowing smoke at the stars,

I wasn’t allowed to smoke inside

So I’d hang out over the sill,

Whenever I’d wake at three o’clock

With the world so quiet and still.

 

Light would stream from a dozen cracks

Where the timber didn’t fit,

The beams would light up the garden beds

With the rest of the patch unlit.

I’d listen hard for a movement there

But without the bedroom light,

Though nothing stirred in the shed out there

But the silence of the night.

 

To tell the truth I was just too scared

To go down and investigate,

The lights went off at four o’clock

On the dot, and never late,

I’d wait a while and go back to bed

But I very rarely slept,

While Constance lay with her back to me

As her innocence was kept.

 

I didn’t tell her about the lights

Or admit that I sneaked a smoke,

She’d simply say that I drank too much

Or get mad, when she awoke,

But I checked the shed in the morning light

And opened the creaking door,

There were just a few old gardening tools

And a broken down lawnmower.

 

One night, I slept much longer than most

And I woke at half-past three,

But Constance wasn’t there in the bed,

She wasn’t where she should be.

I hung on out of the window then

And looked on down at the beams,

Where Constance was approaching the shed,

Asleep in her walking dreams.

 

She stopped, and opened the creaking door

Then she disappeared inside,

I held my breath and I lit a smoke

And a second one, beside.

I thought that she might have woken up

For the beams were still as bright,

But she only came when I called her name,

Still sleep-walking in the night.

 

She climbed back into our bed again

And slept the sleep of the dead,

She didn’t wake until ten o’clock,

At breakfast then, I said:

‘How did you sleep then, Constance dear,

You are somewhat flushed in the cheeks.’

She smiled a mystery smile: ‘That was

The best that I’ve slept in weeks!’

 

‘You didn’t get up in the night,’ I said,

‘Imagine some lights, and beams?’

‘No, I was lost in some palace, Ted,

And having the strangest dreams.

A prince sat high on a silver throne

But the air in there was a fog,

There was just the prince and myself alone,

But he had the head of a frog!’

 

She laughed, as never I’d heard her laugh,

And her eyes, they sparked with fun,

I couldn’t believe the change in her,

She’s never a happy one.

‘I suppose that he asked to kiss you then

Like the tale from the Brothers Grimm?’

‘Something like that,’ said Constance,

But her lips were pursed, and prim.

 

It happened again another night

When I woke to find her gone,

She didn’t come back at four o’clock,

Nor ‘til the sun had shone.

I stopped her as she was walking back

But her eyes were wide awake,

‘Don’t even ask,’ she said to me,

‘Or you’ll cause us both heartache.’

 

It’s seven long months since they went out,

The lights in the garden shed,

And Constance cries when she tries to sit,

She says it’s the baby’s head,

She told me she doesn’t want me there

When she’s finally giving birth,

So I took an axe to the garden shed

And I piled the wood on the hearth!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Claire in VA]

And what on earth did she have? A boy or girl what? Please tell.
What fun! Claire :)

[Lena M. P.]

Took it further than Brother Grimm did we? I wonder what those tadpoles will look like? Sometimes you are too wicked.

[TPK Stories]

That was quite a story...an enjoyable read....

[Taylor_McCutcheon]

Sorry Im not much of a reviewer when it comes to poetry. You are very good at what you do. I cant find any complaints here.

[Woody]

telling such a complicated (to me, anyway) story in verse. I'm in awe.
a very enjoyable read.

[Lyn Anderson]

This is wonderful, and has an easier flow and timing. Another interesting story in poetic form

[Marie]

I can't help wondering what she gave birth to..

[Ayushi]

You have depicted quite a story in this poem.
You have commendably maintained a link in this whole piece.