Monday, September 26, 2011

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.
*

5 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Laughed at the first one and, believe it or not, almost cried over the second one. Not so much for the ghost as for the old-time store. I remember going to buy fabric with my grandmother, so she could make me a skirt or a dress.
I've seldom sewn anything myself, and now I can't even sew on buttons unless my husband threads the needle for me, but fabric stores always make me think of my grandmother.

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Marie said...

OMG!!!!!! There is where I really would like to be right now.

Kim, USA said...

Hahaha omg!! I like the first one photo and I like what she is gazing too hahahaha!!

My Blue

Margaret Gosden said...

You read more into this than I did! Thanks...

SmilingSally said...

Thanks for sharing your blues. I chuckled with that last line.

Happy Blue Monday, Brenda.