Ultimatum, by Dorothy Parker

[murasakimuse.livejournal.com]

I'm weary of wearying love, my friend,
of worry and strain and doubt;
Before we begin, let us view the end,
and maybe I'll do without.
There's never the pang that was worth the tear,
And toss in the night I won't-
So either you do or you don't, my dear,
Either you do or you don't!

The table is ready, so lay your cards
And if they should augur pain,
I'll tender you ever my kind regards
And run for the fastest train.
I haven't the will to be spent and sad;
My heart's to be gay and true-
Then either you don't or you do, my lad
Either you don't or you do!


It's amazing when you find a poem that totally captures exactly how you feel or what you yearn to say. The trouble with poetry is this however; when you find the exact thing you want to convey to a certain party, you find that a lot of the time they don't "get it" or horribly misinterpret it. Especially if they don't have a poetic bent. I suppose the argument could go "Well if they aren't poetic, screw em."

Unfortunately if you argued that point in those words, I wouldn't find you terribly poetic either.

Comments

[murasakimuse.livejournal.com]

It is frustrating! I sent this exact poem as an email of exasperation to this guy I am seeing and he got all bent out of shape like I was ditching him. I think it's fairly straight forward, don't you?

[murasakimuse.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think the choice is B and he is acting dumb. Figures. Why be a man when you can put your tail between your legs like a dog.

[angabel.livejournal.com]

Sometimes posting poetry that speaks for you ends up making you seem like an "elitist snob."

I love Dorothy Parker and when my friends were all ditching me, I had "Frustration" as my away message for a good while. I'm sure none of them found it as funny and meaningful as I did.

-Ang

[murasakimuse.livejournal.com]

I think "Frustration" is the perfect poem, however I know some people find it too opaque, they think its a big "fuck you" and act acorrodingly.