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Fri 20 May, 2005 05:55 pm
TORCHY
Torchy hates himself.
That's hardly a surprise.
He's a child molester,
And all wish his demise.
So, perhaps that's why
He set himself on fire.
Wrapped in toilet paper
Flick - Foosh - Funeral pyre.
Well, it didn't work.
Poor Torchy's still alive.
Nth suicide endeavor
He's managed to survive.
'Course he's got the scars.
His arms are stripes and slashes.
His alter ego tiger
Clawed him to bloody gashes.
Everyone helps play
The Torchy masquerade.
All he needs to do is
Request a razor blade
Or some matches.
To them it's but a joke.
And Torchy's so much garbage
To incinerate in smoke.
You know how some poems the words don't sink in cos of the subject matter? This is one of them... it's kinda like looking through a fog... i
think it's a good poem... but i have some issues with suicide and child molestation so i've kinda zoned out... and i don't think i could bear to read it again
neologist, I've often wondered whether there is any subject that is taboo to poetry. I think you've shown that however uncomfortable it makes us, poetry can truly be about anything at all.
To most people nothing is more obscene than child molestation. And you've shown no sympathy to Torchy. In fact by calling him "poor Torchy" you emphasise that death would have been an easy option for him.
As Bekaboo says, not an easy poem.
I knew Torchy before he was committed to the Special Commitment Center at McNeil Island Prison in Washington. His professed remorse for his crimes was accompanied by a fatalistic attitude. He didn't believe change was possible, so refused to try. He'll be locked up for life and should be. Nevertheless, it is a terrible waste.
I think that writing about a subject like this would only make the writing easier, because even without eloquence the poem may still have an effect.
That you knew the man makes it much more interesting, I think...what do you mean by "a waste"? A waste of what? Do you mean a waste of resources to keep him alive?
There was a time when he was a young person when he had the possibilities of a productive life; yet his life wound up in the toilet. I'm not an advocate of the death penalty for anyone, much less for Torchy.
And you're right. It was something I just had to write, if that's another way of saying it was easy.
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