The Whispering Wall of Shah La Mere
Had drawn him over the hills,
They said that it only whispered truth
That the listening ear distils,
His lover stood at the further side
And whispered into the wall:
‘I’d like to give you it all,’ she said,
He heard, ‘I wish you were Paul.’

They’d fashioned the Dam at Shah La Mere
Where the valley narrowed down,
To catch the tumbling waters there
When the winter floods came round,
The wall of the Dam was curved across
From the cliff on the western side,
And fixed to stone in the eastern zone
On the hill called ‘Devil’s Pride.’

A walkway followed the curve across
That was barely three feet wide,
A thousand feet from the valley floor
You could walk it, if you tried,
There wasn’t a safety rail out there
For the faint of heart, or weak,
But those who needed to hear the truth
Would brave it, just to speak.

The whispers gathered and echoed there
At the centre of the curve,
And kept on muttering as you passed,
Trapped in the wall’s reverb,
The Whisperers, long gone, were caught
In their whispers of lies and truth,
‘I will be honest and true,’ became,
‘I’m still messed up with Ruth.’

Corinne stayed safe on the eastern side
While he walked out to the west,
They’d vowed their love to each other, then
Had thought to put it to test.
He passed the muttering echoes where
So many others had been,
The truth was turning to lies out there
With some of it quite obscene.

He stopped and turned on the other side
‘Can you hear me now, Corinne?’
And she had nodded as she had heard
‘Do you fear me, now and then?’
‘I’ve only wanted to be with you,’
Was the whisper she returned,
‘I’m only waiting for someone new,’
He heard, and his ears burned.

‘They say it only whispers the truth,’
He muttered, his eyes cast down,
‘I may be soon returning to Ruth,’
Was the whisper that came round.
He dropped her off at her mother’s place
From their trip to the Whispering Wall,
Then drove at speed to spend time with Ruth
While she caught up with Paul.

David Lewis Paget