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Poems - I'm not your punching bag

I'm not your punching bag

by Ozymandias

I walk yes I walk
through a crowd, just like you,
but in the opposite direction
to that crowd
and if our shoulders
should happen to collide
in the marketplace, just remember:
I’m not your
punching bag –

a punching bag rolls
with the punches, spins around, comes back,
turns its other cheek ready for the next blow
and meanwhile, waiting for your fist, it is
blank brown leather, the featureless format
of your enemy, the one whom you would
rather not know in reality, whose skin

like mine, carries scars,
whose bones are brittle and angry,
whose face faces yours, who doesn’t spin and roll and come back
except to return fire and fury and make the sign of Satan –

a punching bag waltzes
in the predictable arc of a pendulum,
safe in its space, secured, allowing you gingerly
to start a romance with its nonentity
in which you will be the master. But, for me,
I just dance, I’m wild, I don’t know any steps, I invent
the way into your vulnerable places as I go,
watching your every move
with intent eyes. Mine is not the whisper of romance
but the hard panting of the one who runs towards you
ready with a multitude of antonyms –

through it all
a punching bag hangs passive
from a thick rope
like an innocent man sentenced for murder –
on me, they haven’t yet passed sentence –

Walking through this crowd
in the opposite direction
my shoulders collide with theirs
and I call out:
I’m not your punching bag!
The crowd stops momentarily,
stares, then discards its discomfiture
and proceeds on its way to the boxing gym –
I, in the opposite direction.

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"I'm not your punching bag" | Login/Create an Account | 4

The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.

Re: I'm not your punching bag (Score: 1 )
by maryanns on Saturday, March 02, 2013 (13:59:57)

Rolling rhythm over my tongue again and again..."not your punching bag" - I wonder if perhaps the fate of our crazed modern world hangs in the balance... overcrowded, unkempt, surly, lacking sensitivity and any sense of empathy. Worldwide, a congenital malaise brewing...
Thoughtful reading, my friend - thanks for sharing.

| Parent

Re: I'm not your punching bag (Score: 1 )
by Ozymandias on Saturday, March 02, 2013 (16:36:50)

| Parent

Re: I'm not your punching bag (Score: 1 )
by FuchsiaFestival! on Saturday, March 02, 2013 (14:03:35)

As I said in the forums, powerful piece of work, hard-hitting and executive.

| Parent

Re: I'm not your punching bag (Score: 1 )
by Ozymandias on Saturday, March 02, 2013 (16:37:16)

| Parent

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Added on: 01-Mar-2013 | Hits: 121 |

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