The Stand-Over Man

He told me that once he’d killed someone,

A long, long time in the past,

He’d held him down and he’d used a gun,

I said I was just aghast.

He said it merely to threaten me,

I don’t know if it was true,

He said if I kept on seeing her,

‘In future, that could be you!’

 

He shocked me so that my hands had shook,

I reached and grabbed at his coat,

I said, ‘Don’t ever dare threaten me

Or you’ll feel my hands at your throat!’

His face went white and he backed away

He wasn’t the bravest one,

But turned to say as he walked away,

‘Next time, I’ll carry a gun.’

 

I asked Joanne if she even knew

Just what he was really like,

She laughed, and said it was said in fun,

‘Just tell him to take a hike.’

She’d once gone out on a party date

With him, but only the once,

He seemed to think they were drawn by fate,

‘But really, he’s such a dunce.’

 

‘Do you think that we should tell the police,

You know, it might have been true,

How would you feel if someone died

And all on account of you?’

‘Believe me, he wouldn’t have the guts,

He’s just a weasel at heart,

Put him next to a skunk, you’ll see,

You couldn’t tell them apart.’

 

Joanne and I went our different ways,

It hadn’t been working out,

I found her nice but her heart was ice,

That’s not what it’s all about.

She passed me by with a man called Guy

And I wished them well to begin,

She said that Ted had gone off his head,

Had started his threatening.

 

It must have been only a month or more

That I heard how Guy was done,

His body lay in the city morgue

After a hit and run.

Joanne was almost beside herself

In fear, and took to her bed,

‘It’s true, I should have listened to you,

It must have been Ted,’ she said.

 

The Spring had faded to Summer when

I ran into her again,

Clung to the arm of the hated Ted,

I couldn’t believe it then.

But the fear was there in her startled eyes

It was all too plain to see,

He looked at me with a faint surprise

And he said, ‘Now look at me!’

 

I wasn’t surprised when the news came down

Along with the winter flood,

A woman ran from a house in town

Upset, and covered in blood,

A man lay stabbed in the bed in there

It seems that she’d cut his throat,

She said it was more than a saint could bear

In a hasty, scribbled note.

 

I don’t know what will happen to her

They say it’s up to the court,

But I’ll be there as a witness for

Joanne, and the justice sought.

She’d known it wasn’t an idle threat

When she saw what happened to Guy,

And said that he had her terrified

When he mouthed the word, ‘Goodbye!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[R Smith]

another superb story David, this really could be a movie, you have the ability i'm sure to create such work but i guess we all have a bit of that, i'm told sometimes i should write stories but i really just enjoy poems, i don't have the patience to write stories i like to get started and finish without much breaking off and i better shut up its about your poem not my writing, brilliant poem my friend and i fine story too :)

[R Smith]

'A' fine story too :)

[andrew mitchell]

A Story told with Flair. David another great write from your pen! Where do you buy these pens from that inspire? Moonta Air maybe!!!!!!!

[TPK Stories]

It seems Joanne got her revenge on Ted...if only the court had mercy on her...well written tale David.

[Lyndy]

nice poem, I like the storyline! :)

[Valentine]

How gruesome. He got his in the end, but......was he the driver of the 'hit and run?' She sounds so cold hearted, why would any man want her? Another thought provoking tale. Valentine

[Willard Wells]

Fun read and I enjoyed it a great deal.

[Lady Lola]

Frightening and beautiful. There you see how serious a stalker can be, they are truly unpredictable.

[Chirag Kumar]

You have made this style your trademark David. Another excellent poem with flawless write up. Loved it :)

[ANTO]

So many of Belfast hardest men have been killed by men with guns - usually shot in the back.

I laughed out loud at the 'weasel/skunk' quip of the woman - belter joke to relieve the tension. Very well done mate.

I think she took up with Guy to save our narrator and even when she took up with crazy Ted it was not for her own benefit. I see her getting off and her and our guy getting finally some peace to be together.
Cracking plot and excellently executed poem as always DLP.
:)

[Marie]

I think she was terrified when he said good-bye, because she thought he might reach out from the grave...

I'd like to read that story.