Phillip Booth, “Terms”

I have no idea if I got the sailing/knot imagery even remotely cor­rect. Just tak­ing a guess to get started with this poem.

Amplify’d from www.ashokkarra.com

On land any length of rope that’s hitched to some­thing beyond itself and takes the strain is called the stand­ing part. Tossed over a beam or limb, with a slip­knot tied in the far­ther end, the stand­ing part could be said to end in a noose. At sea, put to use, rope changes its name to line.

Terms (from poetryfoundation.org) Phillip Booth

On land any length of rope that’s hitched to some­thing beyond itself and takes the strain is called the stand­ing part. Tossed over a beam or limb, with a slip­knot tied in the far­ther end, the stand­ing part could be said to end in a noose. At sea, put to use, rope changes its name to line. The part spliced into an eye or, say, made fast to a shackle, the part that does the work, that works, remains the stand­ing part. Any loop or slack curve in the run­ning part of the line, the part that’s not work­ing, becomes a bight; and the part of the run­ning part that’s let go, or finally eased off until there’s no reserve left, is known as the bit­ter end. As it is in other events, ashore or at sea, that come to the end of the line. Read more at www.ashokkarra.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/cle8