To be or not to be?
There are deleted scenes, deleted chapters, deleted people (if only), so why not a deleted poem?
The poem below originally featured in my debut poetry collection, Caged Without Walls. At the last minute I asked the publisher to remove it. For some reason, it just didn't sit right with the other poems, or with me. I never minded it as such, I thought it amusing and not without truth, yet it didn't seem to quite find a home with the rest. Perhaps it didn't matter. You be the judge.
So here it is, complete with the original writing dates, the one here being the July edit.
Damage
16/4/08
And
Feb 2012
And
july 2012
I once knew a girl
Who didn’t know herself
She tried to discover it
In every man she met.
Some women too.
She tried to find it with me.
Tempting.
She had a body that required the
administration of a legion of sins
And I’m as lustful as the next
man
But I didn’t want to be another
Well… comparison.
She was as passionate as she was
unstable
And I didn’t want to contribute
To the inevitable volcanic eruption
Coming to your Neighbourhood
soon.
Yet I played around the fringes
Scarcely, a little, a tad
But the damned guilt kicked in
You evil fucker
It said
And still says
Preventing me from being the provincial
labourer of Seeds
I was born to be.
I just want you to know
That I did resist
A little, a tad
Yet with the barest scrap of
persistence
She wins me over.
Let’s just say,
I wish I had taken out insurance.
 |
| Atyia03 by akanay at deviantart |
Keen to work towards General…
But I never saw her again.
Even though I’m wondering about
her now
I’m glad I wasn’t there
When that Volcano finally
erupted.
Christmas Present
Caged Without Walls Trailer.
If you haven't got the book yet, without any bias at all I suggest that it is well worth it. You can email me at anthonyjlangford2@yahoo.com.au or directly form the publisher. (Cheaper through me however) It is also available at Gleebooks, Abbeys and Better Read than Dead in Sydney and Readings Carlton in Melbourne.
If you can help me out by sharing this page it would be hugely appreciated.
Thank you.
Now available directly, cheaper, signed, through the author....
Great trailer for a brilliant little book.
ReplyDeleteWill write you soon, when I have more time.
xoRobyn
Liked the poem, and I got a laugh, a rye one at the end.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Great poem you should not have deleted it - one for the next collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys - nice to share it anyway.
ReplyDeletePS I'm in agreement, actually. It feels like it belongs elsewhere. It's more specific --about you and one woman, whereas your poems in Caged are more generalizable to humanity.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
xoRobyn
That's a good point Robyn. Something about it didn't feel right in the context of the others. There is another about a girl and I, A Caged Memory... but this was a little flippant.. awkwardly comical.. i don't know.. i don't mind it per se.. yet...
ReplyDelete