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I am Not a Riddle
I didn't want to play.
Every time, I get named and categorized by people
who've never met me, and who don't think I even deserve
a proper name.
What, you don't bristle when somebody calls you Blondie?
(Well, maybe not, ma'am, if that's why you dyed your hair.
On reflection, I must admit it does make you more visible.)
You don't think it's rude, mammal, that you are named
for having two rounded body parts (which you, sir, don't
actually have)?
Apologies. I was just making a point. I would not be so
discourteous.
So, if you will, call me a name that says that I am clean
and she is wholesome, even if I'm not and she thinks
"wholesome" means "boring".
Call me a name that says that she chose me for my
skin color — I'm pleased to be so particularly chosen.
(My kind isn't racist, except when pressed.)
Call me a name that says that my legs are taut and my
stride is infinite, but not really, because I'm getting
a little old and so is she.
Call me a name that says that we met in her youth,
and that long after we can't get around anymore,
she'll keep me in a corner of the garage for love.
Call me by my name.
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(11-05-2026, 08:01 PM)purplie Wrote: I am Not a Riddle
I didn't want to play.
Every time, I get named and categorized by people
who've never met me, and who don't think I even deserve
a proper name.
What, you don't bristle when somebody calls you Blondie?
(Well, maybe not, ma'am, if that's why you dyed your hair.
On reflection, I must admit it does make you more visible.)
You don't think it's rude, mammal, that you are named
for having two rounded body parts (which you, sir, don't
actually have)?
Apologies. I was just making a point. I would not be so
discourteous.
So, if you will, call me a name that says that I am clean
and she is wholesome, even if I'm not and she thinks
"wholesome" means "boring".
Call me a name that says that she chose me for my
skin color — I'm pleased to be so particularly chosen.
(My kind isn't racist, except when pressed.)
Call me a name that says that my legs are taut and my
stride is infinite, but not really, because I'm getting
a little old and so is she.
Call me a name that says that we met in her youth,
and that long after we can't get around anymore,
she'll keep me in a corner of the garage for love.
Call me by my name.
Hey, I think it's mostly just too direct by half, and at the same time, often too vague. I like the no-context dialogue in S2, the rest is kind of a drag. I can tell there are some compelling ideas at work here and the speaker clearly means it, but the language mostly vacillates between coy abstractions (I get named by people who've never met me... I'm pleased to be so particularly chosen... we met in her youth) and frustratingly unattached, if pointed, declaratives (I am clean and she is wholesome... she chose me for my skin color... I'm getting a little old).
I don't really know what to do with all these statements. Also I find it kinda annoying that the title says "I am not a riddle" and then the poem very clearly presents as a riddle. If this is intentional, the irony didn't produce an enticement for me; it just makes me think the project is either confused or too glib.
Oh, and just a diction note - for me, "call me by my name" is a cliche.
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(11-06-2026, 07:00 AM)matsunosuperfan Wrote: Hey, I think it's mostly just too direct by half, and at the same time, often too vague. I like the no-context dialogue in S2, the rest is kind of a drag. I can tell there are some compelling ideas at work here and the speaker clearly means it, but the language mostly vacillates between coy abstractions (I get named by people who've never met me... I'm pleased to be so particularly chosen... we met in her youth) and frustratingly unattached, if pointed, declaratives (I am clean and she is wholesome... she chose me for my skin color... I'm getting a little old).
I don't really know what to do with all these statements. Also I find it kinda annoying that the title says "I am not a riddle" and then the poem very clearly presents as a riddle. If this is intentional, the irony didn't produce an enticement for me; it just makes me think the project is either confused or too glib.
Oh, and just a diction note - for me, "call me by my name" is a cliche.
Thanks for the read. The intent wasn't clear enough, and I'm not sure what to do about it.
It is a riddle - with a trap.
The subject doesn't want to be called a generic name like 'mammal' or 'Blondie'. It has an individual history including a personal relationship and a proper name to go with it. To answer the riddle with a generic name is to give offense. But you can't know the proper name; only 'she' knows it.
S2 isn't context-free, it contains a couple of the clues.
Explanation of the riddle:
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Okay, heard - what's the point of any of this? Why do I, the reader, want to read this poem?
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(11-06-2026, 01:41 PM)matsunosuperfan Wrote: Okay, heard - what's the point of any of this? Why do I, the reader, want to read this poem?
Hmm. Good question. Well, the poem speaks of the dignity of being taken as an individual, not just one of a category. So in that light, I guess I have to answer why *you*, the individual, want to read it. But I don't have that answer. As the poem would say, I don't know your name.
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Respectfully, I don't think this conceit works as conceived. A riddle about a bicycle does not inspire gravitas. That's why the poem leaves me scratching my head, because sometimes it feels like a joke but then it also seems to be like, super cereal sometimes? The themes you describe in your last response don't track, for me, with "parse this riddle, it's a bike"
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(Yesterday, 02:23 AM)matsunosuperfan Wrote: Respectfully, I don't think this conceit works as conceived. A riddle about a bicycle does not inspire gravitas. That's why the poem leaves me scratching my head, because sometimes it feels like a joke but then it also seems to be like, super cereal sometimes? The themes you describe in your last response don't track, for me, with "parse this riddle, it's a bike"
I do tend to make light of serious subjects as a habit, rather than on purpose. Fair criticism. That's what happened here.
It might have been a happy accident this time, because now the poem is also saying it doesn't matter how small or insignificant or even laughable one is, one still deserves courtesy and respect (such as you have kindly offered me). It is more often the strong and fearsome who forfeit that right.
But if it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't. Maybe it doesn't work for anybody but me. I appreciate the feedback.
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Cheers. Did feel some heat coming from the second stanza. Maybe if you can let go of the riddle impulse the conceit can ultimately succeed. I think it's just a lot to ask at once:
-clock that this is a bicycle
-while also picking up on what the bike is saying
-and thus leave with a new understanding of their comments on respect and autonomy
noble aims, tough sell
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