By One's Own Hand


By Gothicman
- 935 reads
I‘ve met many
cut down in time, held back
before the tentative fall
successfully emptied
stemmed from emptying
damaged, patched and delivered
back to square one
I’ve read their notes, anecdotes
letters of goodbye, of resignation
scribbled obituaries, epitaphs
obsessions, confessions
listened to explanations
accusations
seen tears of regret
tears of joy from being a failure
failing
their anger
at parent, lover, partner, friend
at physician, admission
at being saved
at their proof of incompetence
at the saviour’s insufficient display
of dismay
I've seen what opoids, hallucigens, barbiturates
depressive, regressive, psychotic states
does to users, losers, to domestic abusers
to innocent sufferers
to a surviving few
I’ve seen what love, loss, loneliness
mobbing, aging, craving, visions of doom
incessant pain, hoping in vain
does to us all
to some, more so
For others
living the good life
was just too blasé
having had and done everything
wondering where not living would lead
envious, curious, furious
of/at what only the dead might know
A retired friend
medical expert in forensic explosives
had it easier
piecing together filtered bits
of disintegrated hate
DNA without humbled eyes or
outstretched hands
still clutching broken straw
Goth:October:2015
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Comments
A very raw piece, Gothicman.
A very raw piece, Gothicman. Sounds like you've done a lot of good. There's an awful lot of sadness in the world and a lot of harm. I suppose the only way to do what your friend did is dispassionately. Get the satisfaction from finding solutions to difficult puzzles. Adding to the corpus. Maybe helping to work towards an answer. Thought provoking piece.
Parson Thru
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This must have been a very
This must have been a very hard job and not one that many could do, but I imagine you met a lot of people in their pain and helped them. The combination of listing and rhyme / half-rhyme work so well in this to give the sense of weightiness of the topic and it is heavy, but I think the more we talk about difficult things then it makes everything feel a little easier. Also I think the perspective that you have given it, distant from personal or specific takes enough weight out of it so that it is not too heavy. I liked the comparison too at the end, clever, and as Parson said, leaves you with plenty to think about. Rachel :)
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A strong and emotive poem,
A strong and emotive poem, Trevor. An excellent piece of work that I notice goes back to five years ago. The oldest seem always the best.Well done.
Best, Luigi.
PS Have you noticed the 'under maintenance'?
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Eee goth, the ending. Ouch.
Eee goth, the ending. Ouch. Really good. A Samaritan friend of mine does too and stops when she needs too..you have given me a nudge...difficult poem to write that i havent written yet yet yet. Hm. Thanks :-)
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difficult, but pain is.
difficult, but pain is.
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Beautiful, thoughtful,
Beautiful, thoughtful, compassionate and emotive poem
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