Speak.
I hear.
When you are with her
You are an actor.
A courtier;
In a world where everything rhymes,
And water turns to wine.
But with me,
You put on your glasses,
Pull off your tie,
Crack open a beer;
Pour open your heart and then
Sleep, contented.
You throw down your armour,
I am not a prize.
When you see me
We play a game.
I believe they call it
Tit for tat.
But when I take the veil
I am
Just
An ear.
To you,
My skills as an actress are
Deliciously
irrelevant.
"You throw down your armour
ReplyDeleteI am not a prize"
(does the "because" really belong there?)
and the deliciousness of irrelevance! It definitely has a taste.
Liked the contrast between water, wine and beer. Poetic fluid.
And this one has some sinew.
Different faces, different masks.
(Here I was thinking that the poem had Malaysia or Singapore in it. Shock to know that "Kai su, teknon", is Greek).
The third verse is terrific:
"But with me,
You put on your glasses,
Pull off your tie,
Crack open a beer;
Pour open your heart and then
Sleep, contented."
Lots of action and movement in there, externally and internally. He's being dulled?
Try to find out more about macaronic verse/languages, and their effects.
(Will probably help in Ancient History!)
Kai su, teknon are reportedly the last words of Caesar to Brutus - it literally means 'You too, my child?' - hence Shakespeare's famous 'Et tu, Brute?'. However, recent research has interpreted it to mean 'You'll be next', hence the use of it as the title of my poem.
ReplyDeleteI read about (some of) that recent research!
ReplyDelete(before Wikipedia was blacked out for the Stop Online Piracy Act).
Really appreciate the explanation/clarification, and I do think this "You'll be next" interpretation is very interesting.
Actually, yes, it can mean several things.
Brutus being called Caesar's child ... in metaphor or in joke. It is a tiny bit disturbing.
And the actor side of the poem. Something to think about!
Caesar is actually thought to be the father of one of Brutus' sisters: either Junia Secunda or Junia Tertia. Their mother, Servilia Caepionis, was a famous mistress of Caesar's.
ReplyDelete