On an initial read, this seems to be at least a partial explanation of a man's sexual orientation, perhaps not homosexual but certainly influenced heavily by the dominating presence of his mother or some mother figure.

Our initial view of this sinuous, serpentine relationship between mother and child finds the boy weeping and, as she further insinuates herself into his life, into his very existence, we find him confused completely, albeit acquiescing to the apparent inevitability of mother's presence.

It is a projection on my part, perhaps, but my reading is that the scarlet toenails are his, after all, as mother can only figuratively climb into his clothing. His feet are his own, his scent is his own; that his feet resemble hers so closely, that his body musk carries the scent of her cologne, these are products of her domination, to be sure, but they are his to live with, along with the tragic notion that he thinks even as his mother would or does, that he cannot think for himself but can only mirror and mimic the thoughts he knows are hers.

The subject of this poem strikes me as one who has been at the very least emotionally abused over a long period of time, to the point of the acquiescence mentioned early on. That he is

is an indictment of her past behavior; her abandonment of him for a time a different kind of abuse; and his welcoming her return a typical response of a long-term sufferer of abuse to the one who held sway over him for so long.

The ending, the last four couplets, seem to me to be about the young man's determination to break from mother's hold. I first read this as mother trying to break away after first re-establishing herself, but have since decided that in the confusion of one and the other, it is she who is pulling the collar tighter, while it is he who is trying to escape his own shirt.

Of course, this could be a love story instead, or even an abbreviated version of some verse from Paradise Lost.

Or all of the above.

Take care,

Joe

SF,

This is definitely about someone being trapped in some kind of someone else's body, and not liking it, or hating the intrusion. Or liking it, but scared of staying there. I'm not up on the transvestite, transsexual, trans-confused differentiations, to be sure, and it could be all Oedipus (the creepiest of the creepy), but it surely sounds like some kind of disorder is afoot here. Afoot with scarlet toenails!

But seriously, I slowed down to see if anyone was killed, and had to read it several times to make sure I didn't know what it meant. I even put aside imagining it was about Siamese twins, as I recall reading about the famous ones each giving similar accounts of their lives co-joined describing the experience of sharing a space.

But there is a weeping boy, and your qualified suggestion that it is mother and son, along with a dominance factor seems pragmatic enough for me. I wish there were better clues because I like the writing. Anyway, as you pointed out, it could be about something entirely else.