And so to this then,
The last word on the last word penned.
The tides of life have caught me unaware,
And in the depths and shallows
I have found my heart’s despair.
Buoyed on the breakers
Floundering in the troughs,
A sense of life and love was all
I ever really lost.
Surging at the floodtide,
Clawing at the rip,
I foundered on your reef
Like some old, grey ship.

But now as you lie
In your straight, narrow bed
Made three years long
By this self-same head,
My heart lies wrecked
On my own home shore...
If I’d loved you less
You’d have loved me more.
If the then was the now
As it was, once more,
I would seal my lips
As I’ve done before,
I’d release my mind
From this butcher’s hook...
And I’d tear every page
From your colouring book.

David Lewis Paget