The Rainbow Poem by David Lewis Paget

The Rainbow



The rain came down in swirls that day,
The rain came down in sheets,
We sat in the back of the S.U.V.
As the rain, it turned to sleet.
‘I think it’ll show by Bleddows Hill
When the storm decides to pass’,
I said to Ben as the clock struck ten
From the tower of Gormenghast!

I set the G.P.S. to range,
And checked the lat. and long.,
I’d bought a second-hand S.D.A.*
To track it, right or wrong,
The rain kept up its steady beat
The clouds were dull and grey,
For never a beam of moon or sun
Had shown, for many a day!

‘You’d better go wait in the Jeep, ’ I said,
‘And turn your mobile on,
Be ready to move at the speed of light
At the first bright glimpse of the sun,
For no-one’s uncovered the pot of gold
That lies at the end of the bow,
It’s led them a merry dance, ’ I said,
‘But now, at last, we’ll know! ’

So Ben sat up in the Jeep, he did,
But wet, and drenched to the bone,
I got the feeling he’d rather be
Asleep, in bed, at home!
We sat for over an hour out there,
In wait, for the sun to shine,
While I took notes from the G.P.S.
As it helped to pass the time.

Then out from a gap in a darkening cloud
A beam shone out, from the sun,
The air was suddenly light and clear
And the rain was almost gone,
A coloured bow shot over the hill
And into the air, at last,
It curved toward the village to point
At the tower of Gormenghast!

I spat the figures to Ben on the phone
And the Jeep leapt over the hill,
I kept the bow on the G.P.S.,
And tracked its movement well;
‘It only moves if I follow it,
It stays if I hold it still…’
We thought that science had tamed the way
That a rainbow rose, and fell!

Ben chased the bow to the village street
To the tower of Gormenghast,
Where the S.D.A. had pinned it down
With the G.P.S. at last,
And he dug and dug, ‘til an earthen pot
Lay there with the note it spilled,
Inscribed: ‘This is the poor man’s end;
The rich bit’s over the hill! ’


(11 August 2011)

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David Lewis Paget

David Lewis Paget

Nottingham, England/live in Australia
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