Manderley

CARRY ON TUESDAYhttp://carryontuesdayprompt.blogspot.com/

The words in blue are the first words of Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca' *

MANDERLEY

'Last night I dreamt......' now there's a phrase

That I use very rarely.

You see, I hardly ever dream

So Life's treated me unfairly!

Of course, I dream or so I'm told,

But I just have no recall.

Where others see a mural,

I have a blank black wall!

*

Friends tell me of romantic nights

In the arms of famous stars!

Or they drive to exotic places

In expensive motor-cars!

Or they're six again, or ten, or three,

Or even twenty-one!

Or, in their dreams, they play tennis,

Or swim, or vault or run!

*

As soon as my head hits the pillow

The velvet curtain falls.

No time to even read a book

Or gaze at my four walls.

In a second it's tomorrow

And the sun is shining brightly!

This is the story of my life

And it's repeated nightly!

So I have no adventures,

And nothing at all that's mystic!

All is terribly here and now

And utterly realistic!

*

I've had a couple of nightmares

The result of indigestion!

But I didn't care for those at all!

Utterly out of the question!

Am I grateful for my dreamless sleep?

In a way it's quite a boon,

But I have to say that morning

Often arrives too soon!

And I have to say I feel cheated

Out of all the sounds and sights

That inhabit the dreams of the dreamers

During wild and colourful nights!

*

What if I wrote a novel

And the opening line should be

'Last night I never dreamt at all.....

Not even of Manderley!'

*
*Note: this book is the reason I have a daughter called Rebecca! It was only later I realised I'd given her the name of the villain!

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LOVER'S LEAP!

Oh the romance of it! I could weep
When I see this gorgeous Lover's Leap!
Weep with joy that such emotion
Such desire and such devotion
Could lead to gymnastics such as this;
All, maybe, for one brief kiss!
I never inspired a man or boy
To demonstrate this; a jump for joy.
I was lucky if they shuffled,
If their romantic words were muffled,
If they seemed a bit half-hearted
When romance (with a small 'r') started.
I was grateful for a peck,
Though I hoped for pearls around my neck!
But dangerous thoughts stopped me from sleeping;
Dreams of young men wildly leaping!
They never did, but I'm consoled
By the fact that not all this tale is told.....
*
When she's frowsty, lined and plump,
Will he still jump when she says 'Jump!'
*