Caught in the Act

                                                Margaret Gosden

BLUE MONDAY
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CAUGHT IN THE ACT!


Blue sea, blue sky, blue swimmer too,
A summery interlude.
A youthful girl devoid of guile,
In a sweetly innocent mood.
'What a scene of bliss!' I thought;
'What glorious relaxation!
With the water lapping round her feet
A natural pure sensation!'
She looked so young and innocent
In so many ways,
Until I followed the direction
Of  her very obvious gaze!
*
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REMINISCENCES OF A GHOST 

For many a year I've haunted this old haberdashers store;

A hundred, maybe two or three; it could be even more.

I  have drifted round the counters and swirled around the shelves

And toyed with old-time order-books lying sadly by themselves.

I have moaned a little, softly, and wept a tear or two;

I have done the requisite ghostly things a ghost like me should do.

Of course, 'they' never saw me; I've always been quite shy;

Though, sometimes someone caught a glimpse out of the corner of an eye.

I had grown accustomed to solitude; life lived alone at night;

I had almost forgotten the old times and love and its delight.

'My' shop was in a museum and it made my heart rejoice

To hear it's praises sung each day by a visiting human voice.

*

But now even the half-life's over; 'they're' pulling the old place down.

'They' want to build a supermarket in this part of town!

And 'they've' cleared out the bales of cotton, all faded and tied with cord!

Those cottons that so reminded me of the man I so adored!

*

' I think the pink one, dearest'.... thus spoke my determined Mother.

'No, no! Mama!' I answered.'I much prefer the other!'

For hadn't Ernest told me that green was his favourite hue?

And hadn't I decided, then, that only the green would do?

In the end my Mother capitulated, sighing a maternal sigh;

She knew that I was determined, though she didn't understand why.

We took nearly all the green roll, leaving the pink aside.

And I knew, before the month was out, he'd ask me to be his bride.

Mother made me the prettiest ball-gown, with a neckline trimmed with lace

And I saw myself in the mirror, a picture of charm and grace.

*

But Ernest married another and I had no heart to give

To any other suitor. I lost the will to live.

They said I died of consumption, but I died of a broken heart;

What was the point of living since we had to live apart?

So I came to haunt the haberdashers, where I'd once been glad,

I was a delicate little ghost, in sprigged green cotton clad.

*

Now 'they've' thrown out the bales of cotton; 'rubbish' they said it was,

And my poor heart broke for the second time when they did that because

They were my link to a happier time. Now I'll be departing soon

To continue my ghostly existence somewhere beyond the moon.

*