RPO -- Phyllis Gotlieb : First Person Demonstrative

Phyllis Gotlieb (1926-2009)

First Person Demonstrative

1I'd rather

2heave half a brick than say

3I love you, though I do

4I'd rather

5crawl in a hole than call you

6darling, though you are

7I'd rather

8wrench off an arm than hug you though

9it's what I long to do

10I'd rather

11gather a posy of poison ivy than

12ask if you love me

13so if my

14hair doesn't stand on end it's because

15I never tease it

16and if my

17heart isn't in my mouth it's because

18it knows its place

19and if I

20don't take a bite of your ear it's because

21gristle gripes my guts

22and if you

23miss the message better get new

24glasses and read it twice

Notes

1] Demonstrative persons in English are "this," "these," "that," and "those." They are all third-person. It is not possible to have a grammatical first-person demonstrative in English, although being demonstrative to the "first person" in one's life is something else.

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Copyright 2002 Red Blood Black Ink White Paper Exile Editions
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Phyllis Gotlieb, The Works: Collected Poems (Toronto: Calliope Press, 1978): 92-93.
First publication date: 1969
Publication date note: Ordinary Moving (1969).
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: 2002
Recent editing: 1:2003/1/11

Rhyme: unrhyming
Form note: Two twelve-line stanzas with initial and internal refrain.

Other poems by Phyllis Gotlieb