The Soul Collector Poem by David Lewis Paget

He'd had recurring headaches
Since the age of fifty-three,
But ten years further on
He said they'd stopped, quite suddenly,
He woke one morning, after dawn
Confused, his wife had said:
‘He looked quite strangely at me, asked
Why I was in his bed? '

‘I said I was his wife, but he
Said no, his wife was Gwen,
He'd left her twenty years before,
She'd gone with other men.
I said, "Look Brad, I've known you
Thirty years, that's just not true! "
He said his name was Pilkington,
‘Ted Pilkington to you! ' '

‘I took him for an MRI
They said there's nothing wrong,
I brought him home against his will,
He said: ‘You must be strong!
I lied about the Pilkington,
I'm really Wizard Rolle.
I wander house to house and feed
Upon the weakest soul.'

‘I thought it was dementia
I thought that he was mad,
I cried a lot, those first few days
I'd lost my husband, Brad.
He wandered round the garden
Looking lost that afternoon,
But when I woke on Saturday
I found that he had gone.'

‘I saw him down the marketplace
On Monday, after lunch,
He manned a stand with celery
Tried selling me a bunch.
I said come home, he wouldn't budge
He said his name was Tom,
Tom Anderson, the produce man,
He said to move along.'

‘He started coming home each night
It really was absurd,
He'd sit and eat his meal with me
Without saying a word,
And then he'd sleep all through the night
And leave before the dawn,
He never went to places twice,
He was the devil's spawn! '

‘One day he was the baker
Came delivering our bread,
I asked just who was he today
And this is what he said:
‘I told you, I'm the Wizard Rolle
Don't question me again,
I go out there, collecting souls,
But only souls of men! ' '

‘I only get the quiet ones,
The ones no longer young,
They've usually been married
To some hellfire with a tongue,
They've taken it so many years
They've nothing left to give,
There's nothing left to fight with
I say, ‘Come with me, and live! '

‘And that was when I stabbed him
With my scissors, in the throat,
He gurgled once, and fell so I
Just covered him with my coat,
The next day when the baker called
I said to him, ‘Come in! '
He thought that he had fooled me
But I knew that that was him! '

‘The milkman's lying in the hall
The neighbour's in there too,
For all those souls were Wizard Rolle's
I knew what I must do,
I got Tom in the marketplace
Where everyone could see,
I only want my husband back,
Can you find Brad for me? '

5 January 2013