The Word

It’s only a week since I raised my head

From the depths of my favourite book,

The final tale in my library

And my basic foundations shook.

It had been so long since the world went wrong

And I fled from the things I heard,

To hide my head with the living dead,

And lose myself in The Word.

 

For the printed word is a friend of mine

Its sentiments never change,

It’s comforting when you read a rhyme

That no-one can rearrange.

No matter how many have read it once

The story will still suffice,

You know that the ending will be the same

When you come back to read it twice.

 

But the world outside, it seems had died

With its people all grown cold,

There was nothing left I could recognise

From the world that I’d left of old.

There wasn’t a smile on a single face

Or a humorous moment left,

There seemed a general loss of grace

With everything so correct.

 

The money hangs from the tallest tree,

Too high for us all to climb,

This world is new, belongs to the few

It certainly isn’t mine.

Another stabbing, another death

Is all that I read out here,

And populations take to the boats

As millions live in fear.

 

Small wonder then, I wander the streets

To look for a library,

In the search for a book I’ve never read

On the way that it used to be.

A former time when the world was mine

I’ll find it, by hook or crook,

For distant smiles and a woman’s wiles

I’ll bury my head in a book.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

"In olden days a hint of stocking was looked on as something shocking....Now, Heaven knows, Anything Goes"..Yes, this world has changed....Seems that those olden times were stolen from us and replaced by greed, crime, fear and large egos. Ironically, The Book says it all! The majority are looking at a cell phone while you are searching for The Book that we all never read. When and If you find it, Master, let us all know, in your flawless perfection........Barbz

[Workvio]

As an old fart that is opinionated in his opinions, it is my firmly held belief that when there ceases to be books in this world (the kind with pages, not those electronic pads that are meaningless without electricity and Internet) the world will no longer be worth the living in, or on ... Your mighty quill has penned an exquisitely masterful piece of poetry that is ever so seldom seen in these technological times that serve to starve and stifle the imaginations of the young, and bury the imaginations of the old ... This new breed of writers we witness before us today are sadly gaunt, shallow, and mere skin and bones, and all this in the name of brevity as poetry becomes briefer, more shallow, less meaningful, and stories become flash fiction, and the days of great novels like War & Peace are no more ... The world is starving for great literature ... And they don't even know it, thinking that movies will fill and feed that hunger, when it will not, never has, and never will ... Unaware, they are, that the great movies of all times were spawned by the greatest books of all times ... And so, my rambling is meant to tip my hat to a taste of the way it used to be that I clearly see within the lines and words of your poetry ... It has been an honor to read your writing ...

[R Smith]

i'd do exactly the same David, this world pulls itself apart day by day and the temptation is to live in a past that was brighter, that's how i see your poem and how i see my desires right now, thanks for this poem and giving light to this subject :)

[anne]

For the printed word is a friend of mine
Its sentiments never change,
It’s comforting when you read a rhyme
That no-one can rearrange.
No matter how many have read it once
The story will still suffice,
You know that the ending will be the same
When you come back to read it twice...very true...beautiful words...:))

[andrew mitchell]

Wow A book of many books here, the world, losing oneself in a book. Brilliant David and with finesse

[alf]

Hi David. Top of the list!!! I love that you have woven your thoughts into the plight of the world, exposed the shambles of the world and painted a tapestry of story - all in one poem!!! This is an incredible write, again, with so many layers and truths!!! Beneath the surface of your poems I have always a moral, a truth, a warning perhaps (?) that other comments seem to miss. It is here again in this poem and I love it!!! Watch out world - you are killing yourself with greed an self-importance and so much more!!!! Excellent write!! alf

[Marie]

A book will never let you down, no matter what the world does. The ending is happy or sad; the characters live or they die. I may ot always like the way a book turns out--but at least I know it's something that doesn't change with the times.

Movies are a different problem, of course...

[Sindu]

Can not say it better! I rather have books as presents than anything I would probably forgot about in some dusty corner of a long forgotten shelf or drawer. An adventure to venture into for a flock of words will never be worthless. To me, David, this feels like a pride filled prayer of a book admirer than a poem :)

[Willard Wells]

Very nice and I feel the same. Books are an escape just as our writing is. You can't go back and the world is ever changing into something often unrecognizable. Escape to the past, I like that. Great work and thank you for sharing.