Bound again

The Bracelet: to Julia

by Robert Herrick

Why I tie about thy wrist,
Julia, this silken twist;
For what other reason is't
But to show thee how, in part,
Thou my pretty captive art?
But thy bond-slave is my heart:

'Tis but silk that bindeth thee,
Knap the thread and thou art free;
But 'tis otherwise with me:
- I am bound and fast bound, so
That from thee I cannot go;
If I could, I would not so.

I'm at Bound, the monthly Japanese rope bondage performance at the Flying Dutchman in Camberwell.

Before tonight's show, there's a seminar about being  a rope bottom/bunny/model - the one who is tied. Communicate with your rigger. Take simple precautions to avoid nerve damage. Breathe properly. Eroticise the pain.

Then the performances.

'Shit,' says Rosie, my drawing compadre for the evening. Several times. I understand why. It's a technical and observational scramble - the movements so fleeting, drawing materials so wayward - what are we trying to do here, squashed up on a sofa, stage left, in semi-darkness? 'Oh shit.'

Another friend has been flitting between the bondage on the ground floor and the sex party in the dungeon ('It's a performance, a display'). He finally settles for the sofa with us, scoffing cucumber sandwiches which I've made and Cadbury's Mini Creme Eggs.

Melanie suspends herself. She is naked apart from chunky black leather army boots, black leather cuffs and white stick-on strips over her nipples and neat zip of pubic hair. I don't know if that's to make the photos Facebook-friendly. Her performance is part human condition, part feat of strength.

Clover, the Isabella Beeton of rope bottoms,
instructs with meticulous thoroughness on kinkyclover.com. Having read her blog, I begin to see how much she is contributing to the performance although ostensibly passive.

Rosie: 'Is pubic hair not allowed here?'
Me: 'Fashion.'
Rosie: 'Oh.'

Performers:
Melanie le Grand
Clover and Wykd Dave
Laura Cylon and Laced Lines
Esinem and MaYa Homerton

More drawings if you scroll down.

Melanie

Clover and Wykd Dave