By Penda Smith
INTRODUCTION TO A THREE-PART POEM CYCLE:
1. ” Abandoned Corpse on the Road”
I was once told that in my teenage years, I will experience my fair share of pain. I never understood what this meant until a person I genuinely cared about walked out of my life. I was overtaken overwhelmed by the pain and I knew I had to let go of it somehow. As a way of coping, I wrote “Abandoned Corpse on the Road”.
This was exactly how I felt when this person walked away, I was destroyed. I compared myself to a corpse that was abandoned upon a road. This poem was a message to the person who left. Basically, I wanted him to know that it is okay for him to leave, but just never come back and expect me to be the same.
“Empty”
Similar to “Abandoned Corpse on the Road”, the forlorn mood was a result of yet again another heartbreak. This poem was written to show the person the pain he caused me.
“Family Tree”
Unlike the two previous pieces, “Family tree” shows the happy part of moving on. This is a poem written to any one anyone who has ever experienced any sort of pain. I used a tree to symbolize how someone will always be there to help you. As a teenager, I have come to understand that all pain can subside when you allow a tree to help you. This “tree” can be anyone one from a loyal friend, a caring mother or a protective father.
“Abandoned Corpse on the Road”
My body is a decomposed carcass.
My skin festers under the boiling sun,
I am dead.
You left me here to die
When you walked away
It tugged at the broken pieces of my heart,
And killed me inside.
Keep walking,
On this deserted road.
I can hear your vivacious footsteps,
Beat the hollow ground.
Forlorn clouds weep heavily,
But don’t you dare to turn around.
My spirit has been relinquished,
Into the inner depths of depression,
Because of this earthly obsession.
By the time you Realize you made a mistake,
It will be too late.
Mon Cherie, keep walking,
For if you dare look back,
Your heart shall break,
As turbulent tears drown your soul
For
You shall behold,
An abandoned corpse on the road.
“Empty”
Heart breaking screams pierce through,
The still night.
Tears drown face,
And spill onto the dark streets.
Blood drools onto stained,
Crimson sheets.
A broken heart yearns to be whole,
Deep holes of where love once lived,
Are now empty.
Empty…
A shattered heart,
Parts bloody lips
Agonizing screams vibrantly—
Pierces the eardrums of a still night,
As the rain drowns the face,
That uttered these horrid cries.
Mournful, dark streets take in the rain.
And witness blood drooling onto
Stained crimson streets.
Tonight,
A broken heart yearns to be whole.
But the only thing to fill in the empty holes,
Is the pain that tears and screams,
Avidly shows.
“Family Tree”
There will be days,
When you will be entangled in burdens,
When your soul will be hurting,
When the sun will hide behind clouds for so long,
You will forget that it is there.
There will be days,
When those clouds disappear,
And the fire of life will burn your skin,
There will be days,
When you can no longer hold your tears within.
When you will swim in spilled oceans,
And your cries will not be heard.
When you wish someone found you,
Before your unwiped tears drowned you.
There will be days,
When you will fight long,
And you won’t have anything to write on.
There will be nights,
When you will want to grab a wish,
Out of the starry night sky,
But you don’t have wings to fly.
So,
Allow me to branch out to you,
When you need a helping hand.
Allow me to be a reminder that a sun,
Is still there.
Allow me to be your shade,
On hot summer days.
Allow me to be the napkin you cry on.
I promise,
You will always have paper to write on.
I would strip a layer of my wood for you,
And if you are still drowning,
I will exhale oxygen into your lungs,
And give you a reason to breathe.
I am everything you will ever need.
And,
When you wish to grab a wish,
Out of the starry night,
Don’t wish for wings to fly,
Because I will be your ladder to the sky.
Allow me to be,
Your family tree.