Friday, September 10, 2010

Protestation No. 24: She Doth Protest...

Since many of you seemed to like yesterday's poem, I think I will offer you the sister poem today. Both were written on the same afternoon, with the same inspiration, for the same reason. (How's that for cryptic?)
=)



©1992 by Susan Noyes Anderson, Infinity Limited

I do not need thee; ‘tis a lie
to paint me weakened by thy charms.
Dost think thy sweeting feign would die
than leave the comfort of thine arms?
Forgive me if my brusque reply
some vision of thyself disarms.

I do not need thee; I am strong,
an oak with roots set firm and deep.
Have I not told thee right along
my counsel I would always keep?
Shouldst thou demur, thou dost me wrong;
but never mind, I shall not weep.

I shall not weep for thee, my dear;
I am not smitten by thy wit.
Though others eagerly give ear,
I find in me no benefit
from thy conceit; in fact, I fear
I harbor little taste for it.

But hold, perhaps I overstate;
I would not have thee think me cruel.
‘Tis not for me to castigate,
nor offer thee for ridicule.
It is not mine to remonstrate
if thou dost choose to play the fool.

And so, a truce, my erstwhile friend;
in truth, I have no feud with thee.
There’s little in thee to offend;
I do not fear thy company.
I need thee not, but condescend,
in service to thy need of me.

13 comments:

Robert Brault said...

Sue,
Your virtuosity astounds! What is "Infinity Limited?" If it's a book of verse, available, I will pluck down my shekels instantly.

rb

karen said...

Yes, I wondered the same thing (but of course forgot to ask): what is "Infinity Limited"? This one is quite sly, and makes quite curious as to the story behind these two poems, you clever wench, you. Perhaps thou wilt enlighten us.

Amy said...

I second Karen's inquiry. What is the story behind this? And will you tell it? What a wonderful poem! I love the bit of insight it unwittingly gives us of you. ;)

Mindy@TheLemonTree said...

I've just scrolled through your last few posts and I love that poetry just flows from you. It is all so beautiful. Truly a gift and I'm glad you share it!

Pearl Maple said...

Lovely compositions you are sharing on your blog, beautiful use of words and images

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh fan me now baby, at first glance I thought your title was Prostitution No. 24! Heeehehehe!

Such a beautiful poetry but we all want to know the rest of the story!

God bless ya and enjoy your weekend!!!

Jess said...

I'm glad that it's not entitled prostitution No. 24 like Nezzy thought- but that was so funny to read.

I also wonder about the origins of the poems- and are you willing to share the story behind it?

Susan Anderson said...

Sure. I'll share the story behind these poems in a post next week.

=)

Anonymous said...

Another great poem. I am very much looking forward to reading the stories behind them. You are very talented sweet lady!. Hugs

Darlene said...

O.K. Sue, No comment. Anyway, no one else read my comment for yesterday. I didn't even go on your blog until today, so no one will go back and read yesterdays. (Unless perhaps I now have invoked an interest today. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend that everyone go back and read what I had to say yesterday.) Unfortunately most everyone has already commented today, so not very many will read this, so you are likely to be very safe.

Myrna Foster said...

Oh, I love this! It's very funny. Now I have to go back and read its sister poem.

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Such a story you tell!!!! And, I'm with Robert - I'll pluck down my shekels too!!!

Darlene said...

Sue, you need to have a book published of all your poems. Have you ever submitted it for publication? I know you have had a lot of them published, one at a time, but you really do need to get a book of them all. You also need to publish a book of all your Christmas stories.