If you want love,
you've just got to remind
me,
what is my name?
And are you gonna tie me
up with them chains
all along the ceiling?
Call me insane,
but I get a loving feeling
from you
when you
whisper
to me
bla-l-la-l-la-l-la-lah.
What's a safe word?
And will I have to use it?
Are you a bird,
or the cat who would abuse
it?
Girl, I don't mind
flying in the deep end
long as I can
recover by the end of the
weekend.
I want
you more
than my
perfect
skin.
[instru.]
Take off my tie,
and everything that's
regal;
I never feel good,
until you strip away
what's evil
You grab a knife;
I'm afraid you're gonna
land it
into my thigh,
but you just make me a
sandwich.
You turn
my heart
up red,
like a
stove.
You're al-
ways on
top 'cause
your a-
bove.
Is this
pain, or
Dharma,
is this
love?
Dharma, the Hindu/Buddhist word meaning (in its basic sense, via online dictionary) “The principle or law that orders the universe. / Individual conduct in conformity with this principle. / The essential function or nature of a thing.” … Here, it is the nickname that the singer's dominatrix girlfriend chose for herself. (his is probably a bird-name: Finch, maybe.)
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that caught my eye upon reading the poem was its physical shape. I likened the curves of the poem to the image of someone being tied up or restrained. In this poem, the narrator, a singer, addresses his dominant girlfriend lovingly, though some of the images tend to be frightening (the knife, the imagined stabbing of the thigh). Despite the intensity of their affair, the narrator himself is still rather innocent, as though he has just been introduced to the idea of a dom/sub relationship (“What’s a safe word?). What’s more is that the narrator feels as though he is deserving of punishment, and seeks retribution from his lover, whom he reveres and regards as being above himself.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read. First, that the woman is in the dominant position at all (granted, that is becoming more common these days) but also the man's reaction. The man questions whether or not the relationship is love at all, especially because of his innocence in the realm of lovemaking. I wonder what it would be like if the positions were reversed; a man is being dominant instead of the woman. If anything, I would be scared for the woman and wonder if she was in an abusive relationship. Characterizing her as the dharma, however, makes their current relationship seem natural. After all, the law that orders the universe is usually considered right. I would be interested to read this if the roles between the man and woman were flipped.
ReplyDeleteDid you just give yourself a writing assignment? I think you did :)
DeleteIf you write it, I will read it - with interest...