After years of trying, I have finally published a decent poem in one of the McGill campus literary journals! And, this is my first poem ever published, perfectly suited (by coincidence, actually) for the Valentine’s edition of Read this, Dammit!, the publication of the Paper’s Edge creative writing group. I really lucked out on this one!
The poem came to me when I conceived of a conceit that plays off Rene Descartes’ scepticism about whether or not the people around him are automatons. Through some non-linear thinking process, the thought, “What if a lover was afraid his beloved was an automaton?” announced itself. I also thought I’d try writing a poem inspired by John Donne’s conceits. Indeed, I allude to “The Ecstasy” in several of the stanzas. The Song of Solomon also provided inspiration.
Be aware of a pun in the title. Science nerds might get it.
Now, without any further ado:
“I See You Too”
Is this all our body,
an illusion of love?
In the pomegranate fields
of the eternal now,
by the banks of the swollen river,
our fingers intergraft,
locking teeth.
Are we two souls two gears,
closed systems
touching hands?
Do fingers bend
for integration of input?
Is your ankle, by my thigh,
a rivet?
Are your legs plastic—or fiberglass—
or your arm, a vise?
And this,
is it just plumbing and pump,
Tube A to Valve E?
Cords of synthetic sinew
crisscross your face:
do they pull together to please me,
or does a mind pull them, pleased?
CO2 is on your breath.
Your body burning against mine:
a furnace grafting my carbon matter
onto dancing atoms of purity.
O, O the illusion is truer!
Was he who created you clockmaker
or lover?
Your eyes are two spheres:
orbital intelligences
around the simulacrum
contained in your skin.
I hear the symphonic magic.
Focusing beyond you,
Both eyes form one,
become a clear window.
Matthew Rettino 