Walk Like an Encryption is a quiet play on movement, perception, and pop culture.
The Title
The title Walk Like an Encryption carries a subtle, knowing echo of Walk Like an Egyptian. However, the poem immediately heads in the opposite direction.
Where the song celebrates spectacle and exaggerated gesture, this poem sharpens its focus. It treats movement as something coded. Something read – and often misread. Here, a walk becomes a language. A gait becomes a signal. As a result, what appears obvious on the surface quickly proves unreliable.
The reference stays light and playful. It rewards those who notice it, while remaining invisible to those who don’t. In that sense, the title practices exactly what the poem proposes.
Movement As Message
This poem examines how bodies are interpreted in public space. A walk is never neutral. People watch it, assess it, and categorise it – usually within seconds.
Rather than resisting this reality, the poem leans into it. Through humour and self-awareness, it exposes how sympathy, pity, and social convenience circulate quietly through physical appearance.
What looks like vulnerability becomes strategy. What looks like limitation becomes leverage. And what looks like sincerity becomes, at times, performance.
Encryption, Not Disguise
An encryption does not hide meaning. Instead, it protects it.
That distinction matters. This poem is not about deception, but about control – who gains access, who makes assumptions, and who decides when understanding is earned. The “encrypted” walk becomes a practical response to a world that rushes to conclusions and mistakes speed for insight.
Because of that, humour plays a crucial role. It keeps the poem light, while observation keeps it honest.
A Note On Tone
Despite its sharp intelligence, the poem never turns bitter. Instead, it remains playful, humane, and quietly mischievous. There’s a wink to the audience, an enjoyment of performance, and a clear delight in the absurdities of everyday social choreography.
Ultimately, this is a poem that walks its talk. It reveals just enough, withholds the rest, and leaves the reader to do the decoding.
Below, you can watch the original reading, followed by the full text of the poem.
Walk Like an Encryption (Poem #815)
I
Quick oncomer-glances take in my stilted gait,
Giving them feel-good-factoring, “I’m OK / pity that poor man.”
Using two walking poles… few realise this be sport;
Sticks as crutches all they know.
So these be primary pity-production prop.
II
Then exaggerate each step. Raise and shake out knees,
Ankle-joints bend and twist, swivel hips robustly.
Giving overall sadly compromised pretence;
Debility–disability disguise so publicly presented!
III
Compassion-generating. Sympathy-gleaning.
Fostering full-functioning gratefulness in onlookers. Win win.
Useful favour-currying when road-crossing in traffic,
And in airports led to front of any queue!
IV
Fully-encrypted demeanour, micro-movement maximizing.
Makes an art of silly walking with creative exercise
To boot, while having a hoot…!
07–09–2025
© John Malachy Raftery
JMR