24 March 2017

The Wail of the Flesh

As clothes to freezing bones I lie,
Stretch'd, squeez'd by her moving limbs,
Housing her twisted nerves and tubes,
I'm the seat of pain itself,
And that of that carnal pleasure,
That evil joy that he seeks,
Lying wrapped beneath the sheaths of my skin,

I am the sitter and the seat itself,
Holding all within myself,
Served as meat upon the plates of men,
And as flesh upon his bed,

I'm the mouth that eats and speaks,
The form of her beautiful face,
Of her bosom that selflessly suckles,
And also his sturdy frame and muscles,

I'm the colon that digests and spills,
The organ that beats and pumps,
So it pains me to call her heartless and sore,
But what do I do when I'm hurt and low?

Oh she treats me a whore, she who wears me,
To dress up and present to those who see,
She hides my pains like they were her own,
Dressing my pimples, painting my skin,

She bends and wrings my every part,
All in an attempt to win his heart,
She peels off chunks of me,
Selling them in exchange for love and glee,

Coating my skin with colours and soot,
She treats me worse than her cheapest boot,
Peeling off hair that stands on my form,
She stacks me in that template she so wants to fit in,

I'm shaped, chiseled to be an object of yearn,
Abused so she can be abused in turn,
Oh do I blame them for seeking this pleasure I store?
Or her for putting me in a prison within another?

Wondrous that I may be,
I try my best but fail to see,
How pleasure hides so snugly within,
Tucked away beneath a fold of skin.

All this agony and I still keep her warm,
But one day I'll be wrinkled and worn,
Sagging below like a bag of cloth,
Under the weight of my wretched wrath.

I considered titling this as 'Ode to the Flesh' but wanted it to be a first person's account and changed it to the current one. I wrote this over three days, between 22nd and 24th March, 2017, spending a little time each day. This is perhaps the longest time I've taken so far to write a poem. I'm used to finishing one off within two to three minutes and the time this one took came as a surprise.

A line I had to hold myself back from adding:
She bends and wrings my every part,

All in an attempt to burp and fart

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