gloves

 

Sometimes a word will start it, like
Hands and feet, sun and gloves. The way
Is fraught with danger, you say, and I
Notice the word “fraught”….
John Ashbery, Variant

Lawn as white as driven snow,
Cyprus black as e’er was crow,
Gloves as sweet as damask roses,
Masks for faces and for noses.
William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale

 

I saw her hand, she has a leathern hand,
A freestone-colored hand. I verily did think
That her old gloves were on, but ’twas her hands.
William Shakespeare, As You Like It

So, hand in glove I stake my claim
I’ll fight to the last breath
If they dare touch a hair on your head
I’ll fight to the last breath
The Smiths, Hand in Glove

Handle with kid gloves
Handle with kid gloves
Then you learn the lessons
Taught in school won’t be enough
Put on your kid gloves
Put on your kid gloves
Then you learn the lesson
That it’s cool to be so tough

Handle with kid gloves
Handle with kid gloves
Then you learn the weapons
And the ways of hard-knock school
Put on your kid gloves
Put on your kid gloves
Then you learn the lesson
That it’s tough to be so cool
Rush, Kid Gloves

Well, they sprung me out of Quentin,
I’m back on the mob’s payroll
They can buy my body
Sure they can’t buy my soul.
I’m working out of Stockton
I”m weighing in at two -o -one
But there’s a man in the front row
Sent down by the mob with a gun.
For ‘Kid Gloves’, ‘Kid Gloves’,
I’m back out on the street.
‘Kid Gloves’, the master to the beat
‘Kid Gloves’, I’ll do anything but dive.
Rory Gallagher, Kid Gloves

White gloves.

In Japan taxi drivers wear them. Politicians wear them. Women at the information desks in department stores wear them. Police officers wear them. Train drivers wear them.

In the martial arts they use gauntlets in kendo and single gloves in kyudo. In some styles of karate they use gloves in sparring.

The other day at a train station I saw an immaculately dressed man wearing black cotton gloves. He was reading a newspaper and he didn’t want to get ink on his hands.

Niall

free e-book + background poems and articles

http://sweatshirtpoesy.com/2010/01/19/john-ashbery-variant/
John Ashbery, Variant

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/100
William Shakespeare, Complete Works free e-book on project gutenberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%ABd%C5%8D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendo

This is a very cool blog post on Danny Choo’s blog. It’s about a high school kyudo club. Great photos.
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25877/Kyudo.html

music

these are all good songs but for real rock ‘n’ roll check out Rory Gallagher

The Smiths, Hand in Glove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh2bonnjv70

Rush, Kid Gloves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukz_T9HFLJU

Rory Gallagher, Kid Gloves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yyWXYh91mM

photo: kyudo glove by yepyep

published contemporaneously on the aikido site aikiweb

my columns on aikiweb

 

© niall matthews 2012