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.
4 comments:
"You throw down your armour
I 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.
I read about (some of) that recent research!
(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.
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