Poetry Spot and Some Wordplay

Doppelganger

by James A. Lindon

Entering the lonely house with my wife

I saw him for the first time

Peering furtively from behind a bush --

Blackness that moved,

A shape amid the shadows,

A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes

Revealed in the ragged moon.

A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have

Put him to flight forever --

I dared not

(For reasons that I failed to understand),

Though I knew I should act at once.

I puzzled over it, hiding alone,

Watching the woman as she neared the gate.

He came, and I saw him crouching

Night after night.

Night after night

He came, and I saw him crouching,

Watching the woman as she neared the gate.

I puzzled over it, hiding alone --

Though I knew I should act at once,

For reasons that I failed to understand

I dared not

Put him to flight forever.       

A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have

Revealed in the ragged moon.

A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes

A shape amid the shadows,

Blackness that moved.

Peering furtively from behind a bush,

I saw him for the first time,

Entering the lonely house with my wife.

James Albert Lindon (1914 – 1979) was an English puzzle enthusiast and poet specializing in light verse, constrained writing, and children's poetry.

Lindon has been described as the greatest English writer of comic verse and his skill at wordplay has been similarly acclaimed.

In addition to being a poet, Lindon was an accomplished writer and solver of puzzles, especially those in recreational mathematics.

By the way, the above poem, which is quite scary, is a line palindrome, one that reads the same from the botoom line up as from the top line down.