.
There was a time
when a poet was the bane,
a thorn in the side of fathers,
seeking to protect their starry eyed daughters,
to keep their virtue intact and pure,
from the menace of romantic verse,
and the lure of a handsome wordsmith.

There was a time
women would queue to be his muse,
pray to be the next broken hearted tragedy,
in rhymes penned by his stroking fingers,
the fulcrum of an adventure in love,
to fulfil their private fantasies of destiny,
being the plaything of word woven desire.

There was a time
ladies in lace and fur and of status
raided accounts of rich and flaccid husbands,
to bestow favour and gifts,
upon the man who turned them on,
with *** for their lust starved bodies
and soft words for sensitive emotional need.

There was a time
and now its has long gone,
the poet barely catches a beautiful muse,
hardly ever breaks a heart,
nor seduces a benefactors second glance,
leading her to book and bed,
as the world offers her distractions new.



© Pagan Paul (25/04/18)

in the heavens
clouds floating
birds singing
summer haven

summer haven
birds singing
clouds floating
in the heavens

I am the deafening
In the calming
Of their careless whispering
Echoing from the safe places
Of parallel universities

Mine are more
Than mere protagonist words
More than words that have less meaning
Than the eggshells
Walked upon
These are my words
  Right or wrong
And still going strong!

And I will love you all to death
You victims
You snowflakes
Young hearts of unrest
Say what you will
Let it all out
Take a big chance
Stand in your safe place and shout!

Then you will know
What free speech
Is really about!!

There was a lady ghost, from the past.
Who liked to scare people, just for a blast.
She lived in a cottage by the sea and liked to frighten people, like you and me.
The lady ghost went by the initials LJG.
One day feeling brave, I decided to seek her out
Talk to her, see if she would reveal
What kept her at the cottage every day, why she would always scream and shout
See if I could encourage her to stop, see how she would feel if I decided to turn the wheel
I had a plan in mind, you see
To wait behind the bush in the garden, for the ghost to appear
Whilst waiting, I may crack open a beer
Then without warning I would run out, start waving my arms and scream and shout
Wailing loudly, I would say, “hello LJG and how are you today?”
The lady would stop and take a breath, then reply
“I’m peachy my friend why do you ask?”
“I’m here having my usual blast, what are you doing imitating me? I’m the ghost LJG, there is only
one and that’s not you, it’s me!”
To my surprise the Lady ghost did not appear, I waited all day and all night
I was getting very worried that she may have found somewhere else to cast her fright
I went back again the next day, and waited my time once more
I spent several hours feeling bored and decided to step out from the bush to explore
First, I decided I would run around the back, see if the ghost had left any tracks
I tiptoed sneakily, keeping in shade, so I would not cast a shadow on my parade
Nothing to show, nothing to see, I would change my tack
Go Indoors, sneak, creep, climb up the stairs, to see if other plans could be made
Upstairs I found a handkerchief, it had frayed at the edges and tear stains of love soaked into it
I put it in my pocket and started to walk away
When a very small voice asked “why are you taking away, my heart and soul of yesterday?
I halted, I did not expect the lady ghost to show herself
I was ready to give up, retire,
fade away, put my dreams back on the shelf
At last I thought, here was my chance, would she recognise I was once her forbidden romance
"Lovely Joy Golden it is me, look deeply into my eyes, tell me who you see?"
The lady ghost could not believe what she saw before her
Her first and only love, denied by her father
The one she cried for day and night, her pain causing passers-by such a terrible fright
" Pierre my love come set me free, we'll be together now for all eternity "
"No more crying for you my love, I can now be your Prince Charming and you my sweet love"