{        
                        site_name: 'Poetry 180',         
                        subscribe_url:'/share/sites/Bapu4ruC/poetry.php'      
                    }

This poem plays off the idea of giving and taking orders.

Lift Your Right Arm

Peter Cherches

      Lift your right arm, she said.
      I lifted my right arm.
      Lift your left arm, she said.
      I lifted my left arm. Both of my arms were up.
      Put down your right arm, she said.
      I put it down.
      Put down your left arm, she said.
      I did.
      Lift your right arm, she said.
      I obeyed.
      Put down your right arm.
      I did.
      Lift your left arm.
      I lifted it.
      Put down your left arm.
      I did.
      Silence. I stood there, both arms down, waiting for her next command. After a while I got impatient and said, what next.
      Now it's your turn to give the orders, she said.
      All right, I said. Tell me to lift my right arm.

from Condensed Book, 1986
Benzene Editions