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Every Tuesday
up against the wall
I cry
cos I want it all


every here is used to mean each time

Tuesday is to distinguish it from Monday (although when it is just after midnight and I have been out partying, is it really early Tuesday or late Monday?? A real conundrum!)

"up against" has a double meaning of physical placement and in combat with contrary forces

"the wall" means of course that my struggle for freedom is like the one faced by Germans when Berlin was separated.

I cry is the writer's attempt to show mood, but wait! Are those tears of protest, pain, pleasure, joy!?

"all" this is a simple rhyme that matches "wall" and is in the best traditions of poetry

I was trying to convey the helplessness of a 58 year old woman who has no longer got men interested in her and feels up against it but never feels it up against her (oh, my! I may have gone too far!!)

Marisha

I suspect that this does not happen on Tuesdays, at all. With your heavy use of w's (well, two) I think it happens on Wednesdays. Fess up.
Otherwise, excellent poem with layered meanings that were only enhanced by your indepth explanation.

cheers,
L

"I was trying to convey the helplessness of a 58 year old woman who has no longer got men interested in her and feels up against it but never feels it up against her (oh, my! I may have gone too far!!)"

Dear Marisha:

When you say you were 'trying to convey', you imply a lack of confidence or conviction in your own poem. This is further reinforced by the fact that your explication exceeds the length of the poem many times over. Let it stand. Or let it fall. The poem will only resent you for patronizing it. I understood it well enough without the anxious commentary.

take care
norm

thank you Norman, yes I am anxious indeed. Posting my works of yearning is not easy. what if horrid critics tear me down, does that mean there never was a tree falling in the forest or that it made no sound!!!

I have anxiety in all my lives, as mother, as former wife, as mistress, as casual one night stand, as aunt, as sister, as neighbor, as athlete (retired), as potter, as actuary, as lay preacher, as pilot, as semi-professional swimmer, as Samaritan, as painter, as poet, as Masseuse, as vegan, as hunter, as Goddess. I was trying to convey that uncertainty and utter lack of confidence in a life devoid of achievement.

Now I feel better for your encouragement and next Tuesday when I feel up against the wall I will simply think of normanballs.

It's very hot tonight isn't it or is that just me?

Marisha

Hi Marsha - I like the detailed explanation of your poem.

The analogy of up against the wall representing freedom I feel is a little vague. I remember the Berlin wall, but a lot of younger people wouldn't.

May I suggest add something more universal.

What about being blond to the wall? ... just an idea.

You wear a lot of hats for a life 'devoid of achievement' Marisha. I've been workshopping writing and music for years. The first few are like your babies. And there's the occasional nasty critter. But if it's decent art, it'll suffer the indignities and endure.

take care
norm

Marisha,
You failed to explain the because I want it part of your poem, and this leaves me confused. Why is the word because there at all? excellent use of the word want however, I cannot think of a better word to so perfectly combine desire and wantonness in one, as you are wont to do in this piece. Overall, well done!!

Aha, I shan't dare to make suggestions here again. I apologize for being an individual. Can't change however, 'cause this is more fun.

Casey

Cate wrote:Hi Marsha - I like the detailed explanation of your poem.

The analogy of up against the wall representing freedom I feel is a little vague. I remember the Berlin wall, but a lot of younger people wouldn't.

May I suggest add something more universal.

What about being blond to the wall? ... just an idea.

Hello lovely Cate, the Berlin "wall" was an allegory for the divide between man and woman, God-fearing man and atheist, pupil and teacher.

Thank you for your suggestion for revision but I am a redhead (with lovely freckles, if I may say so!) so "blond to the wall" would not be truthful and a poet, above anything else, must speak the truth!

It would be lovely to chat again Cate- perhaps when you have something a bit more helpful and better researched to share (I won't hold my breath. but let's hope that's ever so soon, Dear.

Marisha (looking for a man, not a woman however blond and free with her revision suggestions she may be)

Manna wrote:Marisha,
You failed to explain the because I want it part of your poem, and this leaves me confused. Why is the word because there at all? excellent use of the word want however, I cannot think of a better word to so perfectly combine desire and wantonness in one, as you are wont to do in this piece. Overall, well done!!

How very kind of you to interfere, Manna. I see from your photo that whilst you are hardly in the first flush of youth and are no spring chicken, nor obviously have you reached any apparent level of grace or maturity. Perhaps it would be better to run your posts past your husband next time before exposing them to the innocent public. I offer that advice in a sisterly way!

Oh yes, I too was once your age, and like you I was struggling to express myself, painfully shy and full of neuroses. But I never, NEVER, accused a fellow Human Being, of "wantonness" . As I read your insult it was like a stab to my sexual organs with a large and sharp baseball bat. I hope you are happy now

Marisha

Marisha wrote:

Cate wrote:Hi Marsha - I like the detailed explanation of your poem.

The analogy of up against the wall representing freedom I feel is a little vague. I remember the Berlin wall, but a lot of younger people wouldn't.

May I suggest add something more universal.

What about being blond to the wall? ... just an idea.

Hello lovely Cate, the Berlin "wall" was an allegory for the divide between man and woman, God-fearing man and atheist, pupil and teacher.

Thank you for your suggestion for revision but I am a redhead (with lovely freckles, if I may say so!) so "blond to the wall" would not be truthful and a poet, above anything else, must speak the truth!

It would be lovely to chat again Cate- perhaps when you have something a bit more helpful and better researched to share (I won't hold my breath. but let's hope that's ever so soon, Dear.

Marisha (looking for a man, not a woman however blond and free with her revision suggestions she may be)

A slightly flirtatious woman with red hair and freckles huh?
Hummm.....
(no,no dear I don't mean to be wrinkling my nose and squinting my eyes at you, you just sound a bit like someone I met once)

Thank you for clarifying what you meant by Berlin wall - that's very profound - I'm embarrassed to say I thought you were speaking of panties and legs

I'm not sure what you're implying in your last line - but I've never been partial to red heads - perhaps I'd be slightly interest if you were blond but really I've always preferred brunettes.

All the best to you and good luck with your hunt for a man.

love, hugs and kisses

Cate

if I ever needed absolute proof, Dear, of the dottiness of Blonds like you it would be in your repeated misspelling of my name

sincerely

M A R I S H A

is it difficult for you to see the I. perhaps if you stopped flirting with Manna, you would be able to concentrate, write poetry, and not try to revise mine with your inappropriate suggestions. I make this post in a spirit of Sisterly Union, (but not if I see a hunky man first who is interested in a Woman with experience not a little slip of a girl as I presume you are from the style of your writing).

Also why would I ever speak to you of "panties and legs"- the very notion is almost perverse and I ask you to apologize.

Marisha wrote:if I ever needed absolute proof, Dear, of the dottiness of Blonds like you it would be in your repeated misspelling of my name

sincerely

M A R I S H A

is it difficult for you to see the I. perhaps if you stopped flirting with Manna, you would be able to concentrate, write poetry, and not try to revise mine with your inappropriate suggestions. I make this post in a spirit of Sisterly Union (nodge nodge wink wink) , (but not if I see a hunky man first who is interested in a Woman with experience not a little slip of a girl as I presume you are from the style of your writing).

Also why would I ever speak to you of "panties and legs"- the very notion is almost perverse and I ask you to apologize.

I stuck your I in my whispered message to Manna - which by the was very rude of you to read. I think your a bit naughty ms. MarIsha ( I feel I can say that as I've seen you say it to others).
I should point out that I am not at all a slip of a girl and that I find your suggestion of 'sisterly union' very presumptuous as you've never even baked me a pie or even made me a macramé plant hanger or anything - I'm not sure what kind of girl you take me for.

Marisha wrote: How very kind of you to interfere, Manna. I see from your photo that whilst you are hardly in the first flush of youth and are no spring chicken, nor obviously have you reached any apparent level of grace or maturity. Perhaps it would be better to run your posts past your husband next time before exposing them to the innocent public. I offer that advice in a sisterly way!

Oh yes, I too was once your age, and like you I was struggling to express myself, painfully shy and full of neuroses. But I never, NEVER, accused a fellow Human Being, of "wantonness" . As I read your insult it was like a stab to my sexual organs with a large and sharp baseball bat. I hope you are happy now

Marisha

My husband is inspiring, generous, thoughtful, confident, sexy, playful, smart, considerate, beautiful, funny, and that's enough for now. Do you see how good he is? How can I have any fun if I run everything by him? I assert my freedom to play and play badly as I wish.

Grace? Why, you should see me balance a book on my head and walk down the stairs on my tippy-toes.

You claim to outrank me in years, yet you also allege your innocence. One thing I know is that as we age we get less and less innocent. Another thing is that I get to tack on 15 years to my age because of a certain whim of reasoning, bringing me to age 47, while you are only 46 and a half with no 15 year free add-on. Yes, anyway, the point is that in a most younger-sisterly way, I hereby punch you in the schnozzola.

Oh, wanton, wanton, what can I say about the word wanton? A fabulous, multifaceted word. The meanings range thusly: deliberately cruel; promiscuous; profuse and luxuriant; playful. I promise I didn't intend the "deliberately cruel" meaning for you, for you seem to me to be quite the little, old, sweetie-pie.

When I read the word "it" in your poem, I assumed it had something to do with a stab to your sexual organs with a large and sharp baseball bat. If this were a misconception, then please accept my most humblestest apologies. I shall give you nine:

Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry.
Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry.
Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry. Marisha, I'm sorry.

Yes, I am happy, thank you for expressing such concern. I hope you too are happy now.

Marisha, stop reading here.
============================********************
This next part's for Cate.

I think if you take the leg & arm on one side and I take the leg & arm on the other side, we can give Marisha a proper toss into a cold shower, eh? I'm sure a lake would be much too small.