Tombstone

The thing about a broken heart,
Is that it doesn't go away.
It stings and tears your mind apart
Every single day.

The trouble with being lonely
Is that there is silence all around.
When you speak to yourself only
You become a burial ground.

The problem with being broken,
Is that you need to be remade.
You struggle with words unspoken,
And become monument to love's shade.

The truth is that whenever love dies
Some heart is left alone,
Remembering secrets, dreams and goodbyes.
I am silent tribute, made of stone.

Written 14.4.05

I am proud of this poem, for a few reasons. Mostly, there is some nice metaphor and imagery in it. Importantly, these remain consistent. I hav ebeen very careful and selective with the imagery used, so I think the ideas within the poem are quite tight. Hopefully, they are quite obvious too. The images in the poem all relate to a tombstone in someway. That its made of stone, stands in a graveyard, is a monument of tribute to someone, and importantly that it contains a final message for that someone. This metaphor is the central idea of the poem - that when love ends, and lovers break up, it can be hard to let go. Someone becomes a tombstone themselves. Their life becomes haunted, preoccupied, with the death of the relationship.

I particularly like the idea of the 'words unspoken'. Literally, this could mean the words engraved upon a tombstone. Final words that the grave (or dead person) can't say, but they remain there for the world to see. I know from my own experience that after love, there are always words unspoken. Sometimes, these words are obvious to others too.

The title works well with the poem. On the one hand, it sets up the words of the poem to be words written on a tombstone. This particular tomb marks the death of love, some someone who passed on lamenting the death of love. On the other hand, the title says that this is a poem about being a tombstone. Certainly when I read the poem I can read it under both interpretations. Can you see it too? If so, then this poem is a great success for me.

I'll leave you to think about some ideas of the poem yourself. The idea of 'becoming a burial ground', for example. Think on what this might mean - especially in the context of being alone. Maybe it rings a bell with you? The 'monument to love's shade' is also quite a nice idea - think about exactly what that might mean.

If you read this poem differently to how I've explained it - thats good! After all, these are only words. The understanding comes from your mind, and the context under which you read them. If you have a different idea about what the poem means, please send an email to monstroooo@yahoo.co.uk and tell me about it.