The Misunderstanding Poem by David Lewis Paget

Some say that life is a mystery
That we have to pay our dues,
It's written in every history
Marked out by a series of clues.
So it was when I saw her sally forth
With that lost refrain of us,
Older now, but a constant muse
As we caught the self-same bus.

I hadn't seen her in twenty years,
Her temples were going grey,
She'd gained a little in weight, I thought,
Since she'd stormed on out that day.
She didn't see me at first, I know.
Or she might have raised a fuss,
But I sat beside her, anyway
On the rearmost seat of the bus.

She huddled up in the corner when
She saw just who it was,
I couldn't get her to speak at first
And I felt a sense of loss.
‘Fancy seeing you now, out here, '
I began, ‘it's been a while.'
Could I detect the hint of a tear?
There was no sign of a smile.

‘It's been forever, ' she said at last,
‘And I'll thank you now to go,
I have no need of ghosts from the past
In the life I've come to know.'
I heard my voice, it broke in my throat
As I tried to suppress a sigh,
‘I have no wish to alarm you now,
But I thought to ask you, Why? '

‘Why did you leave that sunny day
In that terrible month of June,
You said you were going to make me pay
When I came back into the room.'
‘You know full well that I had to leave
When that woman knocked at the door,
That painted Jade, that Jezebel,
That blonde, unspeakable whore! '

My jaw dropped open in bleak surprise,
I struggled with grim intent,
I couldn't think for the life of me,
Or remember who she meant.
‘There was no woman, as I recall
Though you always thought there was,
Your paranoia was there on call…
Did you mean my region's boss? '

The mist was beginning to clear away
From that mystery, lost in time,
‘My god, she called to discuss our costs,
Did you think that she was mine? '
She stared at me and her face went pale
As the truth came home to bite,
‘I sat and waited for months, when you
Didn't come home that night! '

A tear now flowed down her pale white cheek
And she turned her face from me,
She stared on out of the window at
Some vagrant, passing tree.
‘I always loved you alone, ' I said,
But she'd never brooked delays,
We both got off at the same bus stop,
And went our separate ways.

7 December 2014