The penis that sticks out

[~greg]

The penis that sticks out
Gets hammered down.

The trout
That opens its mouth
Sleeps with the fishes
On the dishes.

Sprinkle my heart with lemon,
Parsley, paprika,
And battery acid.

It's better to have never been born
Than to be reborn still-born time and time again.

Over there are the young,
Hiding out in the open.

Kleenex in her bra,
Kleenex in his shoes,
I know they're only trying to get even.

Save your kleenex children.
There are children in China that need 'em more than you.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Greg ~

I appreciate the core thought that motivated you and resulted in this poem. For me, it's all in your last line.

Uniquely and very originally rendered. I like it.


~ Lizzy

[Manna]

Hi Lizzy. Would you mind rendering your interpretation? I was with it right until the last line, which seemed like a throw away to me (sorry, ~g), but it might be because I am missing the real point.

[Jimmy O'Connell]

the point, Manna, is sticking out a mile... or considerably less...

the narrator needs 20mls of This message has been classified as spam and will be deleted by the moderators...

Jimmy

[Jimmy O'Connell]

I actually used the word v i a g r a...

It came out THIS IS SPAM !!!!!!!

What's going on here lads??

Jimmy

[Jimmy O'Connell]

ah so if you spell V i a g r a with a space between eacj letter it won't come out THIS ISPAM

So..... my original post should read:

the point, Manna, is sticking out a mile... or considerably less...

the narrator needs 20mls of v i a g r a....

Jimmy

[Jimmy O'Connell]

How come if you use the word "penis", the result is not THIS IS SPAM!!...

But if you use the word v-i-a-g-r-a without the spaces it comes out THIS IS SPAM!!!!

Is there a Mary Whitehouse gremlin in the system that censors n a u g h t y words???????

J i m m y

phew.... I'd hate to be signed off as THIS IS SPAM!!

[lizzytysh]

LOL, Jimmy. It's a simple answer, really. People don't come here selling penises. They do, however, come here selling the V word... hence, it's marketing SPAM.

I'll be back later to answer your question, Manna.


~ Lizzy

[Jimmy O'Connell]

Yeah Lilly... but we do use this site to "sell" pomes..
so what happens if I want to write an ode to that unmentionable "v" word,eh????????????
Thus: (and I am all atremble as I write this because I really don't know what will happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh This message has been classified as spam and will be deleted by the moderators This message has been classified as spam and will be deleted by the moderators
yer a wonderful thing!
Ya give us a lift and a
a bit of a zing.....

okay... as i wait to submit.........

[Jimmy O'Connell]

Oh jeyes fluid I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!

I am devastated..... Ya mean I can't write an ode to V I A G R A
without typing a space between each letter?????????????????

Oh V I A G R A V I A G R A
yer a wonderful thing!
Ya give us a lift and a
bit of a zing.....


Well, that baits Banagher lads,
and Banagher baits the divil...
(only Irish forum members of a certain vintage will understand me referernces to "jeyes fluid" and Banagher, County Offaly!!!!)


J I M M Y

(just in case me name has beeen designated a spamified word!!!)

[Manna]

I don't think the narrator needs anything that rhymes with Niagara. I thought he needed a nice sweet safe place to put his penis, along with a desire for honest nakedness. I don't see the connection with children or earthquakes in China.

Of course, there is the "eat your broccoli, Greggy" thingy. Because there are starving children in Ethiopia. And because stuffing your bra with kleenexes for the purpose of a little lie for attracting the opposite sox does insinuate that the bra-stuffing child doesn't have a true appreciation for the intended use of kleenexes. But to be able to connect it with the crying earthquake surviving children ... ?

Is there a specific reference I am missing?
Or is the message a generalized kind of,"Stop worrying about this little performance and getting yourself laid; there are bigger things in the world?"

[lizzytysh]

Hi Manna ~

I just realized I had never returned to respond to this and here I am about to go to bed. So, briefly, yes... this is how I took it overall:

Or is the message a generalized kind of,"Stop worrying about this little performance and getting yourself laid; there are bigger things in the world?"

With the children caught in China's earthquake, there has been devastation beyond measure. Considering China's one-child policy, the devastation has been amplified for the surviving parents, if any. It's hitting home with a lot of people in a very intense way, and that seemed to me to be what was happening with Greg... and 'proportions' came into view; not of the penis variety, but the life-scale variety. Now, the aftershocks have destroyed a huge number of more homes. The monsoon season is coming and people are without shelter. Slower deaths are on the horizon.

The trout
That opens its mouth
Sleeps with the fishes
On the dishes.

This I read as the gullibility issue... we take the bait and end up on the plate. The marketing of V i a g r a; the necessity of being sexy and whatever the marketers deem that to be [though the V product seems to be one appreciated by the users, regardless of what the marketers say], however, the kleenex in the young girls' bras and the young boys' shoes... reflect marketing that's reaching the young.

Sprinkle my heart with lemon,
Parsley, paprika,
And battery acid.

This to me seemed to be an expression of the pain of the heart. Try to make it better by enhancing it, but the battery acid will dominate, all the same. I see where it also relates back to the fish, with all but the battery acid being one preparation. We are still the fishes.

It's better to have never been born
Than to be reborn still-born time and time again.

I don't have concrete ideas as to what he meant with this. I got stuck with an image of GWB when I read it and couldn't get past it.

Over there are the young,
Hiding out in the open.

This describes the current devastation in China.

Kleenex in her bra,
Kleenex in his shoes,
I know they're only trying to get even.

This describes what's happening with that daily 'be attractive to each other' with children here. He acknowledges that they're trying to equalize themselves with what's going on around them and with each other. Going on with life, doing their little things... with maybe a later graduation to the V when they get older.

Save your kleenex children.
There are children in China that need 'em more than you.

This poem as a whole, with that emphasis in the last line, reminds me of how I felt when John Lennon was shot. Everything went into bas relief, with my automatically contrasting, as I couldn't help noticing, the trivial stuff going on seemingly everywhere around me, when such a devastating event had just occurred. I felt hurt and angry and it felt so much worse when I saw what seemed to be the trivialities of how some people were living their lives [I felt angry at the world, and at the people I would see who seemed to be 'wasting' their lives with 'trivialities,' when someone else, who was doing so much with his, had just lost it]. I remember in particular two guys on the bus being jerks... not to me, but just in general. I recall having that dark, shadow-self thought of "Why couldn't it have been you? Why not someone like you?" That, of course, suggests that the value of people's lives varies; yet, grief doesn't always take a predictably rational and honourable course... and those thoughts sometimes just come, even though they don't stay long.

Greg's poem seemed to me to make the point that the children in China have nothing, not even kleenex. It's true that Johnny oughta eat his broccoli, when there are children in China starving. Yet, there is huge trauma going on over there right now, at this very moment, and it's real and present, not a generalized truth about starvation, that one can use at the dinner table with children. The poem seems to me to be a way of processing pain, when there's no way to make sense of what you're seeing, reading, and hearing about, regarding the real-time horror and unfathomable loss that's going on there.

You know, of course, that I could be wrong in any/all of my interpretation, but that's how I took it to be, at least for me.


~ Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

"Lilly" ~ Is that me, Jiggy?


~

[Cate]

Hi Lizzy and Greg as well as Manna and the gentleman who seems a bit obsessed with via.gra and canned ham products.

Mat just recently said in another section, "Isn’t it strange how we read into a poem a different story??!!"

I think that's so true. I read Greg's poem very differently then you do Lizzy.

Greg, I hope you don't mind this.

The penis that sticks out
Gets hammered down.

Fear of rejection - hide your feelings, longings...
pretend to conform, Don’t take emotional risks, don’t take chances

The trout
That opens its mouth
Sleeps with the fishes
On the dishes.

Stay silent, stay quiet, blend in and they may not see you.

Sprinkle my heart with lemon,
Parsley, paprika,
And battery acid.

If I open myself to you – you will consume me – burn me. This is an interesting stanza, Even though someone is about to eat your heart, there’s a certain sweetness at the beginning, as if you would willingly give your heart to be consumed, and then they poured battery acid on it - ouch.

It's better to have never been born
Than to be reborn still-born time and time again.

These are the type of lines that stay with you. I got stuck in these lines too Lizzy but I saw them much differently then you. My first interpretation took my to a dark place, I tried to see it in other ways but I had a hard time shaking my first thought.

Over there are the young,
Hiding out in the open.

Kleenex in her bra,
Kleenex in his shoes,
I know they're only trying to get even.

This reminds me of a scene in Favourite Games. Perhaps the children have already learned the lessons from above - perhaps this is their way around it. Why does she want bigger boobs - to conform to what society tells her, he should want, why does he want to be taller - because he thinks that's what she should want. They're both hiding.

Save your kleenex children.
There are children in China that need 'em more than you.

I think Manna already hit on this - kleenex are better used to soak up tears. Also these worries really are small in the greater scheme of things.

[Jimmy O'Connell]

Apologies Lilly... Lizzy... this via.gra thing has me spooked!!!

Another interesting thing.... this is a bit convoluted but bear with me:

via = way
gra = Irish for love.. as in "gra mo croi", love of my heart....

v i a g r a = the way of love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How appropriate... a combination of Latin and Irish... Latin lover and Irish soul!!!!!!

Jeyes, eh

Jimmy