Poem "Can You Handle Me" by Rahamatullah Mir, and its analysis by Tariq Ahmad Tariq

Tariq Ahmad Tariq

Poet: Rahamatullah Mir

Analysis by:Tariq Ahmad Tariq

The poem
"Can You Handle Me", has been woven to rhyme, and sound rhythmic. The simple diction makes the poem a taffy to relish upon lavishly.

The content suggests that the narrator does either live with a naive temper or  poses selfishly bad tempered so as to get rid of one-sided affair that he feels has been afflicted upon him. The narrator posses to be merciless.

Looking between the lines, the content suggests that the narrator deliberately chooses to tease the candid emotions of his beloved. His target is to bring his beloved to tears,  but he chooses to go slow and discover new low every time.

There is a satire to candid love in making. New low could be blocking the efforts to meet, talk or respond, or pretending selfishly disloyal,
or showing least inclination towards continuing the affair,
or  prolonging her wait.

These all things are aimed at  disappointing  the beloved to the core, so that  she could be made to lament.

The second stanza, as I could understand, has not too good a muse attached. The beloved is spared,  for timebeing,  from cutting her slacks, and instead her backs are preferred to be targetted. The demand for rings, and songs seems defeating the idea before hand. The poet may necessarily have some symbolic treatment attached with it which seems to be far fetched conclusion to the reader presently.

The third stanza is keeping the dictating tone of the narrator intact. The beloved is denied of the hope of happy journey. She is dictated to pay the fee incase she wants to keep it going. The mention of fee suggests that the affair is not a pure one based on mutual trust,  but a mere bargaining, and the beloved's pure love is facing blackmail at the hands of the greedy lover. He asks her time and again the same introgative, "Can you handle me? ", suggesting that she can never handle him, so it is better to leave him and forget him.

The fourth stanza keeps the mischievious tone of the narrator going. The lover here,  puts a price tag to himself, and alarms his beloved explaining that even when she could afford to buy him, she would utterly fail to make him loyal to her. He being selfish to the core will erode all of her leisure that too for no avail. He keeps busy creating fears and apprehensions.

He tries his every nerve  to make her believe that he is not too handsome, and that he is obsessed with spirits, so it is never possible to handle him.

The poem projects a merciless lover who enjoys teasing his beloved and makes hay. This is a good addition and possibly a satire to the modern day affairs that usually harbours the same intention but keeps the impression otherwise.
The poet has good style to have his say said. He, however, needs to work harder to weed out the lines defeating the argument.
Kudos to the poet.
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