Do you know I think about leaving you and
what it is that I leave?
It is this: your thick outside scent that cloys in my throat,
those rough woollen jumpers, unwashed, so full of you.
Battered jeans, torn and oil stained
always too long, worn to an arch at each heel.
Gumboots, green-soled, brand new, no leaks.
Greying stubble that makes you old and tired
or brash and mischievous — sailor-boy about town;
depends on the season, whether the sun shines.
And I think of your rough hands with tender touch,
that are cuffed away too often,
and your vulnerable eyes,
red with effort to stop the tears.
I think you know that I will leave you.
But also know that something of you will always stay
thickly with me.
Catherine Langford writes in New Zealand.
13 Responses to “THICKLY WITH ME • by Catherine Langford”
Comments
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July 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 am
A fine poem, telling a poignant story.
Using ‘it is’ so quickly in succession in lines 2 an 3 jarred a bit for me.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:12 am
I really loved this! I’m going to read it again…right now.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:55 am
Poignant, yes — so visual and well described, it’s painful; and one can’t help but empathize.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Why wait?
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:35 am
Lovely, very poignant. I especially like the “thickly with me” with all that that conveys.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:55 am
I like how the narrator manages to view both the rough and tender side of this man.
I also agree with Paul’s comment above, “Using ‘it is’ so quickly in succession in lines 2 an 3 jarred a bit for me.”
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
beautiful and moving poem. he is described so vividly.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Smooth voice and flow–lovely story, too.
–dj
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm
If she cares for him so much, why is she leaving? Questions like that always surface when I read poems like this.
“It is” didn’t jar me as much as “thickly”. That must be a Kiwi, or perhaps British, colloquialism which I understand from context but still sounds odd to my American mind.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:30 am
Yes, great poem. Guess for her it was just wrong place and time; too soon for commitment.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Features that irritate are very well described.Beautiful poem.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I love the vivid descriptions and the poignancy of this. I really like ‘thickly with me’! …especially as a closing line.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Thank you for reading (and re-reading, what an honour!). I see what you mean re the repetition of “it is” – I think it was deliberate repetition at the time of writing and having stepped away and re-read after time’s passed, probably a mistake.
I think there are many reasons why people leave and many reasons why they stay with someone and this was trying to explore conflicting emotions.
This use of ‘thickly’ is not as far as I know a kiwi/british-ism – it just occurred to me as a word that conveyed the idea of your senses being drenched in somebody/something.