Tragic Rabbit Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 http://tragicrabbit.org/poems/touche.htm Touch? by TR left-handed sinister raise your weapon, salute on guard, en pointe; you lunge? I parry light as cats engage, riposte, withdraw your blue eyes like diamonds. I wonder watch, wary how sweet, how sharp your steel could I survive your score? a touch touch? I sweat, extend, engage masque down, you shield your soul. mesh glitter metal gleam how hard and spare you seem how cold, how quick you move. once, you claimed to Love me game, set and match; I win yet somehow lost again. * Link to comment
Graeme Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Very nice! I really like this one, TR :D Link to comment
blue Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Good poem. Sometimes, love is aggravating or fulfilling. Heh, it's darn irritating when we ourselves mess up our relationships, let alone if someone else does. And then there are the times when everything seems to work out right, in spite of all the things that would come along to screw it up. This poem seems to talk about some of both, to me. Nice job, TR. ----- This might be obvious, but maybe a few people might not notice it at first: "Touch?" means "touched" in French. Its basic meaning is like in English: to have touched or to be touched. He touched me, I touched him, something he said touched me inside. All those, we have in common, with "touch?." Link to comment
Tragic Rabbit Posted May 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 This might be obvious, but maybe a few people might not notice it at first:"Touch?" means "touched" in French. Its basic meaning is like in English: to have touched or to be touched. He touched me, I touched him, something he said touched me inside. All those, we have in common, with "touch?." "Touch?" means "touched" in French but the overall imagery is of a fencing match, love versus love, feints, lunges, parries and ripostes. One says 'touch?' in fencing when your opponent scores a hit, a touch. So 'touch' in this context means many things, the touch of lovers, the touch of steel on skin (or mesh mask or padded vest), the hit of a well-aimed insult during a lovers' fight. Touch can be dreadful; touch can be delightful. 'Left handed' and 'sinister' are synonyms, based on the long-standing idea that left-handedness is a sign of evil. The first stanza is the 'salute', traditional in fencing but also indicates that the fight is about to begin when one raises one's 'weapon', again all of which can have more than one meaning when discussing lovers. And aren't we often, too often, 'on guard' when in love? Third stanza, 'how sweet, how sharp your steel' means more than a foil or saber, just as surviving is also of the heart. When the last stanza claims the win, yet concedes the final loss, it's definitely of the heart. Sometimes relationships are sparring matches...of all kinds. I did mix the metaphor on the last stanza, using 'Love' and 'game, set and match' which are from tennis, but I wanted them anyhow to, maybe, add depth to the idea of one-on-one competition within a relationship. A few other images of coldness and hardness: diamonds, mesh, steel, metal, 'how hard and spare you seem'. And of course, the feared 'score' here is not the act of drawing literal blood but the metaphorical blood we draw when we fight with those we love. So, yes, "Touch?". Thanks for the compliments, they are few and far between for TR these days. Kisses... TR Link to comment
JamesSavik Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Just in case you don't have ESP- YES- I read and enjoyed Touch?! It is sad but true that our love lives are a lot like fencing. :read2: :notworthy: :geek: Link to comment
Tragic Rabbit Posted May 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I used to have ESP but couldn't afford the monthly charges. :D TR Link to comment
blue Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I used to have ESP but couldn't afford the monthly charges. :D TR Hah, so now he finds a public access point. You know, a Jungian Gestalt.... ;) ----- Well, I thought the fencing meaning of "touch?" was apparent, along with the meanings for "sinister." -- I didn't want to explain all the nuances, because I figured TR might come at me with his ?p?e (fencing foil). Hmm, sharp, pointy, bendy thing...oh hush, Blue, they get that meaning too. -- Even Shakespeare had a double meaning on that one, in Romeo and Juliet, Act I, I think. Link to comment
Tragic Rabbit Posted May 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 with his ?p?e (fencing foil). An ?p?e and foil are not the same weapon. A foil is much lighter, more supple. TR (I can outgeek Blue, I know I can, I know I can...) Link to comment
blue Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 LOL, and I sit corrected. :hugs: Link to comment
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