I Am Very Bothered Poem by Simon Armitage
I Am Very Bothered
I am very bothered when I think
of the bad things I have done in my life.
Not least that time in the chemistry lab
when I held a pair of scissors by the blades
and played the handles
in the naked lilac flame of the Bunsen burner;
then called your name, and handed them over.
O the unrivalled stench of branded skin
as you slipped your thumb and middle finger in,
then couldn't shake off the two burning rings. Marked,
the doctor said, for eternity.
Don't believe me, please, if I say
that was just my butterfingered way, at thirteen,
of asking you if you would marry me.
Actually i don't think he is sorry at all. He reveals his intention in the last verse and i doubt very much that it was hatred that motivated him. Nor was he clumsy i believe this is the quirkiest love poem i have ever read (so far at least)
The cruelties of childhood and the regrets for those cruel acts we carry with us for a lifetime....
to elucidate our love beyond feel of lipped your thumb and middle finger in, then couldn't shake off the two burning rings. Marked, the doctor said, for eternity.
My mother had a chair pulled out from under her, at school, she sat on the ground, below, and experienced a life of back troubles thereafter - NO LARK- no excuse!
Most deserving poem chosen as The Modern Poem Of The Day. Congratulations, dear Professor! So very nice and pleasant to read your amazing poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/3/2024 5:22:57 PM # 1.0.0
I have to say I am not a huge Simon Armitage fan, but sometimes one finds little snippets in his poems which suggest an endearing innocence, and that is what I saw in this poem. The last few lines really portrayed the well-meaning clumsiness and awkwardness that teenage boys have; being 16 myself, I am used to this side of my classmates, and it is easy to tell that it is very difficult for them to express emotion. I can understand why someone wouldn't like it, but I really felt it captured in a sense what I see around me everyday.