His neighbours and friends
and others who had met him
were all unanimous
in stating that he was
a clean young Englishman.
Although he was taciturn
and reserved all the time,
people took to him
because to be shy
was not yet a crime.
They were sorry for him
when his wife upped and left
and they understood why
he looked so bereft.
Then a rumour went round
that a body had been found
in his own back garden,
three feet below ground.
But no one would believe
that this nice young man,
clean-cut and so cute,
could possibly conceive,
let alone execute,
such a murderous plan.
© Luigi Pagano 2010
Comments
Silver Spun Sand | February 7, 2010 - 11:08
Aha - we did it again, Luigi...two takes on that I.P.
Love the twist in yours...and I always thought there were fairies at the bottom of the garden;-)
Much enjoyed. You brightened up a grey day, even slightly macabre as your story is.
Tina xxx
luigi_pagano | February 7, 2010 - 11:27
Yes, dear Tina, as Tony said the title could mean many things and I opted to choose the sinister way.
How many times, when a crime is committed, you hear the neighbours say: 'I can't believe it. He was such a nice man, he could not hurt a fly'? Appearances can be so deceptive.
I see that we are the first two to answer the challenge.
Luigi xxx
Nathan Bednarek | February 7, 2010 - 22:12
This is really good. A very unique take on the IP. I love the way you experimented with and then emphasised the human tendency to judge by appearance only. Very powerful stuff. Well done.
Nathan.
luigi_pagano | February 8, 2010 - 09:37
'Don't judge a book by its cover' may be an old cliché but it is so true. Very often we form an opinion of people just by their looks. If they are handsome and seemingly well behaved we are deceived and don't discover their deviousness until it is too late, if at all. I suppose it is human nature to accept a person at face value and give someone the benefit of the doubt.
I thank you, Nathan, for stopping by and commenting.
tcook | February 9, 2010 - 13:50
I like this very much - and especially the double meaning of execute at the end. Great stuff!
luigi_pagano | February 9, 2010 - 14:03
Praise indeed, Tony. I am chuffed. Thanks very much.
Cavalcaderl | February 10, 2010 - 19:09
new luigi_pagano
Congratulations on the cherry!
Good poem, bit eerie,well done.
Suspense to. and a thriller.We never know.
Yes! me to chuffed! so quick email
Cherry!
But without help and re-done
version as asked,cos:
It was a try true! poem.
grammatically wrong,stanzas 4 lines
hard.and punctuation.
I stand correcting and all comments.
email got in wow.and lovely compliment's
but another version if liked,did all corrected
I agreed purr-fect now.P-P-P "Pick-Up-A-Penguin".
Exclamation marks,commas,semi-colons.Capitals.
So Cherry! is really his.What an Editor to help though.
Do read T.Cook Tony's "Hope In A Strange corner I have brill:
julie x
luigi_pagano | February 10, 2010 - 19:44
Just a quick note to thank you for the comment, dear Julie and also to congratulate you on your cherry for "Pick-Up-A-Penguin".
Luigi x
Cavalcaderl | February 11, 2010 - 20:56
new luigi_pagano
thankyou so quick amazed thankyou
Yours are good and all punctuation.
julie x I can't get hang of yet..