The poem is almost a subtle allusion to gay sex. A schoolboy discussing handwriting and lusting after the other boys in secret:
one of the above would have known
what I was up to.
I'm reminded of one of Eduardo Corral's poems about a violin. . .
So many allusions: riding bareback, stirrups, bifurcated rib, forearm sprawl, the longer he went at it, pressed so hard, K's tight, neat "script" Even Peter Sellars (spelled differently, I know), the openly gay theater director. . .
A school boy watching the other students's muscles flex as they practice handwriting and imagining more.
millicent
On Aug 16, 2016, at 14:34, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> L pressed so hard on his bifurcated nib
> that it splayed, sending out a shadow script
>
> B's bright text stood up vertically
> looping over lines playfully
>
> O's letters raced; ps and qs lost their
> bulbousness the longer he went at it
>
> Each of these styles I endeavoured
> to replicate for as long as I admired the writer
>
> A's left-handed lurch to the right
> required a forearm sprawl
>
> K's tight, neat script anticipated
> his composed later life as a dentist
>
> G's letters leapt left and right randomly
> Hard to emulate but I gave it a shot
>
> None of the above would have known
> what I was up to.
>
> In between adoptions, my own script
> tentatived on lined pages until
>
> I latched on to a new cursive hero
> to marshal my letters.
>
> Peter Sellers could be any man
> but drew a blank at himself
>
> No bareback writer, my ideas
> trotted out but needed stirrups.
>
> bw
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