When I wrote ‘Walter’ it was intended purely as a one-off poem about a subject that I’m interested in, and based on the various ways court cases have gone with regard to the mental aptitude of these types of murderers. I wrote it from the point of view of the reader having a degree, obviously a small degree, of sympathy for him. However, I see that it lends itself to a sequel if one’s feeling a little mischievous. This is one, there may be others later if he ever shows up. Joe Wilson – ‘Walter’ – A Sequel [Perhaps]

 

It was an fact of pure folly, such a negligent act
When the prison guard left the door open a crack
And Walter being Walter just walked out of the door
The courtroom nor the jury saw sight of him no more.

He made good his escape by hiding on a ship
Refraining from his hobby till giving all the slip
He alighted in Dublin and went straight underground
While he started to study the prey to be found.

It was not like before as he hadn’t a home
So he killed tramps and ate bits and then he just roamed
And it wasn’t too long before he’d killed more than ten
As panic broke out about the cannibal again.

But Walter kept low and moved only at night
All of his killings were out of plain sight
He found an old disused shed at the edge of a park
Where he now lured his victims each night after dark.

The sad haunting song still played in his head
But sometimes he heard screaming victims instead
Though that never made Walter regret what he did
He heard the strange song and did what it bid.

One day as he walked through the park to the shed
He saw many policemen so he turned round instead
He knew they’d find the bodies inside his new house
So he crept away quietly as if he was a mouse.

The papers all screamed he’d killed twenty more men
Shouting ‘who’s going to catch him?, and importantly ‘when?’
The song told him go so he sneaked back to the port
Where he boarded another ship to a nice new resort.

No one ever saw Walter again from that day
There are those who just hope that he sailed far away
But he’s not in a prison, and no body has been found
So take care if a humming man’s there when you turn round.

 

©Joe Wilson – ‘Walter’ – A Sequel [Perhaps] 2014