Love Gone Wrong? 2

[Stephen Whiteside]

Here's the second version of "Love Gone Wrong?" I think it's an improvement.


Love Gone Wrong 2

© Stephen Whiteside 05.12.2012

Here is a song of a love gone wrong, and history’s terrible tide.
Or is it? I’ll tell you the parts that I know, and leave it for you to decide.
I’ll start with the man - many miles from home, and fighting a terrible war;
Lucky to still be alive, he was bruised, he was battered, and sorry, and sore.

He met a sweet girl, and he judged her a pearl, and the pretty thing fell for him, too.
So they met all alone in a shed, or a barn, as lovers so often will do,
And they covered their tracks - well, the best that they could, but they knew that their luck couldn’t last;
In truth, the girl’s family, friends and relations twigged to it all pretty fast.

So the pressure was on. Would he stay or be gone? Was it true love, or simply true lust?
The old men looked on. They had seen it before. They were sure he would vanish like dust,
Or perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps they held hopes of a loving, but unlikely match,
And saw in this boy with his manners so pretty a pleasing and excellent catch;

Not just for the lass, for the broad seething mass of the villagers. It would be grand
To have such a man with his clear education resident, ready to hand.
Did he stare at the crowd as it closed on all sides, did it feel like a rope round his chest?
Is that why he slowly withdrew from her fold, declaring it “all for the best”?

There’s none who can know, but his spirit was low, of that much, at least, I am sure,
As he turned right around and he boarded his ship with emotions all ravaged and raw,
For he wrote for some months to his sweet Belgian girl, though ensconced in the bosom of home,
And he knew through the ache in his heart it would be a long time till once more he would roam.

To his sister’s good friend at this weary war’s end (though his spirit was battered and rent)
He turned. She had written while he was away, and he liked the letters she’d sent.
They made him think twice. There was more to this girl than there might have appeared at first glance,
So this handful of handwritten letters exchanged contained the sure seeds of romance.

I speak of romance. Perhaps there’s a chance that the word is a trifle too strong.
Whatever. They married. Their bond proved enduring, the marriage both steadfast and long.
He worked very hard and he rose through the ranks, and perhaps there were times she felt glum,
But she bore him two daughters, both dearly treasured, and one of these girls was my mum.

So, you see, I can’t cry (and I won’t even try) for the love that perhaps might have been.
I wouldn’t be here if he’d stayed with that lass. You can’t call me callous or mean,
And I hope in this world she’s a grandchild like me who has no regrets for the past;
That she married, was happy, bore children...and died, for life moves so terribly fast.

[Glenny Palmer]

I like it Stephen. (I haven't seen LGW 1 though.)

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Glenny.