Snapped

Snapped

some people

are just asking for a slap

you know what I mean

so I snapped & slapped

it was so fast

I hardly felt it

but it worked

it shut them up

for a few minutes

a few scant moments of bliss

of silence

there wasn’t even an echo

of the slap

my hand hardly felt it all

you know what I mean

if it doesn’t hurt me

it surely didn’t hurt them

beyond a bit of humiliation

in front of the others

I know to be slapped

is more of a social thing

if we were alone

I doubt if a slap would have happened

but with an audience

what else could I do

to teach them a lesson

about what I won’t to put up with

boundaries have to be established

so I slapped

I would do it again

only harder the next time

you know what I mean

“some people/are just asking for a slap” says what this poem is about. No subtext, no secret message or even an analogy. A slap is always a slap. In this case it isn’t meant to punish, hurt or teach a lesson but to express frustration. It is an expression of displeasure that is stronger than merely saying ‘Get of out here Veda’ & stepping away, but saying that with a slap confirms ‘I mean this, pack your bags & go.’

A punch is anger, a shove is control but a single quick slap is a statement. A punch is assault, a slap is insult. More than one is escalation & usually invites revenge. It doesn’t even have to be that hard to get the point across but hard enough to be felt.

In movies I’m often dismayed that the blows exchanged in fist-fights seems to have no real impact – yes, I know it is stage choreography & no one actually gets hit. But I see body blows that would break an ordinary person ribs, or that wold damage the hands of the puncher – why do you think boxers wear gloves?

I have never slapped anyone as an adult. As a kid I got in one to two slap fights with other kids that we’re more emotionally, than physically, bruising. I’ve never seen a fist fight, not even one in a boxing ring. I guess I’ve lead a very sheltered life 🙂 I have smacked a few asses, on request, which how I know the slapper’s hand hurts as much as the ass.