The Dark Secrets of an Old Leather Handbag
An old leather handbag holds a dark and terrible secret.
What is this old leather bag doing here?
—I threw it away
Why is it still here today?
I fear to open it,
to reveal what’s inside.
It stayed there all these years,
where I left it to hide.
To open it would be like opening Pandora’s box—
What might emerge?
What might it reveal?
Things best left unknown,
That shouldn’t be real.
Sins from the past, the pox, and old sorrows,
Who on earth knows—
who begs, steals, and borrows.
Things best forgotten,
Things left unsaid—
Why is it back here.
I left it for dead.
I wipe my brow,
my hands unsteady,
my stomach tight,
my heart heavy.
Shall I open it now?
I know you’d like to see—
the remnants of my past belonging to me.
Dare I open it now—
and show what’s within?
Okay, here I go…
my hands are trembling
I undo the clasp…
It unlatches with a metallic groan
and open the bag’s jaw…
The leather creaks like a becalmed old fishing boat
You and I look down its throat—
and couldn’t believe what we saw.
“Wow! Oh no!” you gasp.
“Oh! I’d forgotten about that,” says I.
(to tell you the truth, I told a white lie)
I cannot believe it after all these years.
Your eyes widen in horror,
And mine fill with tears.
We stare down into the dark
There in the…
Shadow…
Where ghostly howls screech,
far down,
in the interior below,
Skull shaped, and sallow,
it lurks in the gloom,
Mist thickens around us
in the dimly lit room.
Deep in the bowels of my old musty bag,
among torn secrets,
amid brittle papers,
an old felt black hat,
a pile of lost dreams,
a fossilised peach,
odd socks,
and regrets
was…
the stub-end of a fag—and some sneak cigarettes.
Lesley Scoble, April 2025
I wrote my poem, The Dark Secrets of an Old Leather Handbag in response to the W3 Poetry Prompt #155, where the Poet of the Week, Ooko Tonny, challenges us to write a poem that gives voice to what is usually left unsaid— a buried truth, a silenced voice, a hidden struggle, or the quiet ache of the heart. Let your words speak for what the world tends to overlook: an internal conflict, a marginalised experience, a truth tucked between breaths.
“Voices Beneath the Silence”
You may write from personal experience, an imagined lens, or even embody the voice of an inanimate object or force of nature. All forms and lengths are welcome — whether you choose free verse, haiku, sonnet, prose poetry, or something entirely your own.
Optional: Weave in metaphors of sound, silence, echoes, or resonance to deepen your imagery.
This prompt invites vulnerability, transformation, and truth-telling.
Let your poem be a space where the unspeakable is finally heard.
Acknowledgements
Enormous thanks to David, The Skeptics Kaddish, for hosting his wonderful and inspirational poetry prompts.
My thanks to Poet of the Week, Ooko Tonny, for his extraordinary and most challenging prompt.
I should also like to link my poem to the d’Verse MTB: Magical Realism prompt. Thank you, Grace, for hosting, and for introducing me to Magical Realism!
Above all, my deepest gratitude to you, the reader, for taking the time to read.
To find out more about the poetry prompts, please follow the links below.
LesleyScoble.com 
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