2. Ludus
So the two began to struggle together.
The angel, tall and slim, his bones very thin and fine
Jacob was much heavier.
His bones strong and round,
all his contours beautifully moulded.
The angel was abstract, almost intangible.
Suddenly, piercing in a fierce, tense grip.
 
All that evening, Jacob wrestled in the arms of a stranger.
 
So the two entwined and wrestled together
Both were white and clear,
but Jacob flushed smart red where touched,
the angel white and tense.
He seemed to penetrate into Jacob’s solid bulk,
to interpose his body through Jacob’ body
as if to bring it subtly into subjection.
 
All that evening, Jacob wrestled in the arms of a stranger.
All that evening, the water flowed past them.
 
So the two were wrestling swiftly, with rapture
two white figures struggling so closely
A sharp gasp of breath,
a sound like a sigh., no head to be seen,
Just swift tight limbs, the solid white backs
Rapturously struggling
the physical junction of two bodies
working into a tighter whole, clinched into one.
 
All that evening, Jacob wrestled in the arms of a stranger.
They explored each other’s strength in tender repetition

Robert Hugill

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