The Switch (Poetry Challenge 2011 entry) --a discussion

The Switch by otk4me56f!

I walk on my own accord
With him I am never bored
Up the stairs and to the right
Into the bedroom and out of sight.

I understand why I am here,
His demeanor has made it clear.
I change my clothing as expected
A slight shiver is detected

I stand at the window watching him
Testing the willow limb by limb
Finally taking out his knife
He cuts a few switches without strife

My heart beats faster, I catch his gaze
Looking at me, his eyes ablaze
I turn to my task without haste
I know I have no time to waste.

I hear his footsteps in the hall.
I am prepared, standing tall
He enters the room, not a word spoken
He gives me a hug, a loving token

Over the bed, bottom bare
I take a slow deep breath of air
I know this is gonna hurt
A swish in the air keeps me alert

The pain is not the ultimate aim
Forgiveness is what is to gain
A loving stripe on the bottom appears
A low moan and eyes filled with tears

Another three follow the first
OMG! It can't get much worse
The tears are flowing, a snuffle is heard
The switch continues without a word

Screams into the pillow are captured
The painful sobs have the lovers enraptured
At last forgiveness has been claimed
Arms intertwine, tears flow unashamed

Gently wiping away his tears,
I finally speak, without fears
"I know that this spanking had to be
And I am honored you trusted me."

Trying to validate this poem has been quite a challenge. (I have no idea which boxes to check!!)
The more times I read it, trying to decipher it, the more I truly appreciate the depth of mystery it contains!

Who is being spanked? Who is spanking?
At first I assumed it was M/F, because that's the way most spanking literature is written.
That being said, the pronoun use in this poem is extraordinary. (Twist at the end notwithstanding)

Now, time for discussion.

When you read this poem, please consider:

Who was doing the spanking? M/F
Who was spanked? M/F

discuss

Hmmm when I first read this in the contest I assumed it was M/F until I got to the end. I re-read it and then took it to be the man preparing a switch for his own punishment. It is hard to tell however the gender of the narrator (one presumes it t be female). I think the title is a clever pun on the word 'switch' as there does seem to be a switch in pronoun assignment towards the end. Perhaps you could clarify the validation with the author.

Well, I had assumed the narrator to be the spankee (as I stated when I posted to this poem), because of lines like "A swish in the air keeps me alert" and "OMG! It can't get much worse," which suggest the reactions of the person being switched.

Still, in reflection that's hardly conclusive, and there are other lines which could imply aome degree of detachment from the punishment--as though it could be the narrator wielding the switch but trying to stay emotionally uninvolved.

At the end, the last stanza starts out "Gently wiping away his tears, I finally speak without fears," which normally would suggest that the other person (a male) had been disciplined--unless the spanker had ended up being disturbed by having to administer the punishment was was crying sympathetically him/herself.

The last two words, 'trusted me" could mean "trusted me to discipline you as you deserved and/or desired" or "trusted me to accept the discipline you felt I needed or deserved."

Perhaps the poem is meant to be highly subjective, its title ("The Switch") could definitely refer to the reference point (narrator or other character) switching from stanza to stanza and in some cases even from line to line.

The only thing that I'm certain of now is that the F/F gender orientation isn't a possibility... --C.K.

The phrase "I turn to my task" in the fourth verse and then "wiping away his tears" in the last verse always made me think it was F/M but maybe that is because of my preferred orientation. The other factor I considered is that there was no mention of a lot of immediate serious reaction most women would give when a switch is applied. Not to say some women cannot be as strong as any man but along with my other points i guess it tended to lead me to a F/M conclusion. The last point was "the swish in the air keeps me alert", I note it was not the contact with the switch but the swish keeping the narrator alert, giving me the idea again it was F/M

In the end though I have to agree with Jools, we will never be absolutely sure unless we ask the author.
Canadian Spankee

Just to let you know that the author was asked to clarify this & I'm waiting for her response.

I remember reading this particular poem in the challenge and of course thought M/F until the twist at the end and switched my thinking to F/M, but upon reflection it could very well be M/M. There is no indication the the Spanker is any certain gender, except he/she was changing clothes for the occasion. I also remember admiring the cleverness in the writing of this particular poem and as I commented before: very well done.

I feel, that it would be a mistake to ask the author to explain something. Let the doubt hang in the air. We cannot ask for more than this in a poem: That it makes the reader start thinking and gives stuff for the imagination to wander in more than one direction.