The window

[Pendragon]

THE WINDOW

Every evening it is the same:
Pad, pad, pad, pad—
back and forth in front of the window
of his upstairs study.
I ask him what he thinks he’s doing.
“Looking for your mother!” he replies somewhat testily.
“Dad”, I remind him gently,
“Mom’s been dead for nearly five years.”
His reply is just an explosive bark.
Pad, pad, pad, pad.
That night, dad dies in his sleep.
After the funeral, I return to the house
to tidy up a few loose ends.
As I enter the upstairs study,
I hear a sickeningly familiar sound:
Pad, pad, pad, pad.
My God! Will he never be at rest?

Pendragon 1995

[Helga]

this is so beautiful. 'looking for your mother' a feeling so bad and sad I can't even imagine ( but witness almost every day).

[Dark Muse]

Darkly humurous, the constant pad, pad, pad, even after death brings to my mind the ever beating heart in The Tell Tale Heart. Sad, but with a touch of dark comedy.

[Janine]

Pen, this poem is really well written and conveys well your idea. I like the timing and pacing and the ending is as Dark Muse points out, quite 'sad but a touch of comedy', maybe even irony. It's a very poignant poem, but not without it's humor especially in the line:

“Looking for your mother!” he replies somewhat testily.

[PrinceMyshkin]

What a spookily beautiful conclusion!

[Maryd.]

Yes, yes, loved it. Very believable and I agree with Dark Muse, darkly funny.

[Pendragon]

My thanks to all you beautiful friends! I tried this as an experiment into ghost story as poetry. You can find other examples buried in the depths of my blog... :nod:

[The Walker]

very interesing. Kind of sad and nice at the same time.
I like the last father's words, can be interpreted in so may ways!