Her Darkest Hour
In his post, dated March 17, 2002 Chris, aka Trent Vale Valiant, shares with us his harrowing experience when travelling between Burslem and Crewe. Burslem Babe had revealed to him a dark secret from her past – of gambling and the Grand National. Chris is still traumatised by it all.
Her Darkest Hour
I was on the bus, and by my side
Was a lady we know well
Who took me by complete surprise
When this story she did tell.
So stunned was I, nay, mesmerised,
And shocked beyond belief,
The tears were flowing from my eyes,
My heart was full of grief.
The likes I’ve never heard before
Transfixed me from the go
As this lovely lass, whom we adore,
Unfurled her tale of woe.
As the gory details were exposed
My head went in a spin,
They’d melt your heart, even those
Of a mean and hardened crim.
She told me in a whispered pain
That she thought her luck was in
On a horse that had a pretty name,
But was a certainty to win.
So she put the last of all her coin
On ‘Teddy Bear’ that day,
But the winner’s circle did not join
For she lost them straightaway.
A desperate soul, a ruined tout,
She turned to kith and kin
To ask if they could help her out
From the mess that she was in.
But they just laughed right in her face
And taunted her to boot,
Then turned away with rapid pace
Saying they couldn’t give a hoot.
Rejected and quite desolate,
Indeed her darkest hour,
She really was in such a state
Her tears poured like a shower.
For after all, when said and done,
Winners are hard to choose,
And ten pennies was a princely sum
For a seven-year-old to lose.
Barry Edge
Western Australia
March 19, 2003
🙂