The Lord Of Judgement Poem by David Lewis Paget

The lamplighter held his pole up high
And rapped on each window pane,
‘Fix your shutters and pull your blinds,
Prepare for the coming rain.’
His footsteps sharp on the cobblestones
Held everybody in dread,
‘Snuff the candle and say your prayers,
Tomorrow you may be dead! ’

And the gaslamps gave a flickering glow
In the empty streets and lanes,
While the Moon shone pale through the trees below
Lighting each window pane.
‘Prepare to pay for your darkest sin,
Reflect on the deeds you’ve done,
Sit round the table and, holding hands,
Wait til the storm has come! ’

Then a wind blew cold through the narrow streets,
With the sharp, cold sting of rain,
And in the distance the lightning flared
Where the Lord of Judgement came,
And nobody dared to breathe a word
That the monster might come in,
With breath of fire and a flashing sword
In his search for Carolyn.

But she sat deep in a dim-lit room
And she held the town in thrall,
Since ever her love in a dismal tomb
Was found, and she blamed them all.
She ringed the town with a purple mist,
They couldn’t get out or in,
And wailed out loud in a mourner’s shroud,
‘You’ll pay for this deadly sin! ’

Then Carolyn sat by an empty hearth
And arranged a pile of bones,
The skull of somebody once she knew
And a pair of magic stones.
She placed the stones in the socket eyes
And the jaw began to move,
‘If only you’d loved as he loved you,
But your brother disapproved.’

She sat herself by the oracle
And listened to what he’d say,
She crossed herself with a hazel twig
And the skull looked old and grey.
‘Your brother took him aside one night
As a friend, and said, I quote:
‘It’s sad, so sad, but it has to be, ’
Then he turned and cut his throat.’

So Carolyn sought her brother out
As he roamed abroad that night,
‘I’m told you murdered my lover, Drew,
Can it be, can that be right? ’
‘I only did it to save yourself,
His love would have torn you apart.’
Then Carolyn moaned a dreadful moan,
And stabbed him, deep in the heart.

The lightning flashed and the sky lit up
Til it seemed as bright as day,
And the purple mist she had conjured, this
Thinned out, and drifted away.
You’ll see her wander the silent streets
In a shroud, as if she’s lame,
Her tears still running in lines and streaks
Since the Lord of Judgement came.

16 April 2015