Don't set me free

it’s been a week now

no mark on my body

that belongs to you

no scent of you

nothing  that declares

I am your Possession.

instead i am wrapped

in longing.  bound by

nothing but the memory

of each nip and caress.

it’s been a week now

no angry words spoken

no words spoken at all

i wonder if i am free

i don’t want to be free

Reviews

[Zoe Jay]

I really like this. There is both defiance, and void, a real clash of moods, which is both unusual and effective. Nice use of a sectional feel, moving from one thought, to another, back to the first thought, and ending with an implied question, which also it's own sense of abruptness. Indeed, the whole poem has that shocked, almost limbo-like feel, like the feeling when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly. It's tender and passionate and sad, but also has a detachment, a boldness, a lack of fear to admit that this is not what you wanted. There is courage expressed here. I particularly like that you can get all these layers of implication across in such a subtle way, there is something about your style and word choice that implies what you are thinking, without you having to address it directly at all, and that is really rare. I like the question, "I wonder if I am free", this is the crux of the poem, for me, after all, usually the moments when we are in fact the most free, feel precisely the opposite. Freedom, true freedom, can often make us feel lost, alone, vulnerable, lonely, intimidated, isolated, or anxious, for that is the true nature of freedom. This poem, I think, is ultimately more about the nature of freedom, and the nature of the self, than about a break-up. Very nice use of context to raise deeper questions, while not losing the intensity of the subject matter. Awesome!!!

[David Benson]

This work is scary:

it's been a week now/no mark on my body/that belongs to you

I take that as to mean someone has delivered a blow - a bruise to your flesh

Going on, there's possession. None at this time, but it implies possession in the past

it's been a week now/no angry words spoken

So we've got marks to the body, possession and anger, and yet there's still a longing: i don't want to be free.

The work is lowercase throughout, and I'm guessing that even the "Don't" in the title was meant to be lowercase. Except for the P in possession. That's a telling capitalization.

I'm chilled by the work. Understated and nicely done.