If Ghosts Could Lie

He stood at the end of the pier that day

In hopes that they’d ask him on,

But Marilyn had just sailed away

With his elder brother, John.

He stood and scoured the horizon till

The sun went down in the west,

Then turned and wended his way back home

Though he’d get but little rest.

 

He tossed and turned for an hour or so

But he couldn’t get to sleep,

Then crept on out of his bed, he thought

He might take a little peep,

For out of his bedroom window there

The sea shone under the Moon,

The surface calm as a millpond as

He fell back into his room.

 

And his dreams that night were turbid dreams,

Obscured like a murky pond,

Where he couldn’t see the half of it

Viewed through the slough of despond,

Had he lost the only love he had,

And the brother he loved so well?

The morning dawned on a sudden storm,

And the sea, with a giant swell.

 

There wasn’t a sail on the sea that day,

There wasn’t a boat at all,

The yacht was found all smashed around

The end of the stone sea wall.

They said there wasn’t a soul aboard

Whoever there’d been was gone,

He didn’t know who he mourned the most,

His Marilyn, or his John.

 

John came to him in his sleep that night

With his eyes all brimming with tears,

‘I shouldn’t have taken her out, despite

I’d loved the woman for years.

But don’t blame her, it was only me,

For she made it plain that day,

She’d only come for a friendly sail,

And then she pushed me away.’

 

And Marilyn came to his dream as well

With the seaweed caught in her hair,

‘I shouldn’t have gone with your brother John,

Now I’m lost beyond despair.

He said you’d come, but he sailed away,

Said, ‘just a bit of fun,’

But now I weep in the ocean’s deep,

It’s the end for everyone.’

 

They found the bodies beyond the pier,

They were floating, hand in hand,

And when they got them ashore they found

That she wore John’s wedding band.

They never appeared in his dreams again

And he thought it just as well,

If ghosts could lie, he at least could cry

As he wished them both in hell.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Lyn Croker Paget]

Well I like this one with it's twists and turns and Alf, it may not have had as much passion impact of the poor brother's dilemma, but with those devious ghosts nearly having us fooled, John's Wedding Band still clinched the impact of a punch to the ending. A lesson on Expecting the unexpected.

[alf]

Hi David. A small departure from your normal strength, I feel. The story was great but I felt the content lack the normal impact of your writing. (Just one point of view). Loved the twist, though, it suited the tale so well. I'll definitely be back for more, alf

[Lena M. P.]

That was a twist I didn't see coming. I loved the twists and turns in this one. Good read.