Great Regulars: No injuries are detailed but the word "pain"

in line 11 is made to pull its weight, even while subject to a joking tautology (pain hurts). After that climax of his own suffering, the speaker returns to the theme of identification. He falls "for the umpteenth last maybe time" and he is still trying to see his attackers, and see into them. The victim's own identity has become blurred. He too is an amalgamation of case histories.

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Poem of the week: Poem of the week: Positive Identification by Ken Smith

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