A Poem | Teen Ink

A Poem

October 19, 2013
By SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing."
--Markus Zusak, "The Book Thief"


I'll write you a poem
with skin and bones and blood
so you can see what I do,
what I think
all the time.
It's a poem all right;
you'll see gut-wrenching emotion
behind it.
But you'll interpret it
differently than I do,
and that's what
I'm afraid of.


The author's comments:
Written June 28, 2012 at 11:55 pm

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This article has 15 comments.


on May. 2 2015 at 9:49 pm
theheavymetalist ELITE, Winter Haven, Florida
247 articles 0 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
Take me As I Am - James Labrie of Dream Theater

I find this poem very intriguing. Though, of course no one will always see the same things you do. If you know Queen`s Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury took advantage of that and try to make a song that could either have a very deep meaning behind it, or none at all but we will likely never know. Another great band that took advantage of this was The Beatles with I Am The Walrus which was SPECIFICALLY meant to not have any true meaning due to the fans trying to actually find deeper meanings in alot of their songs. If you can somehow do somehow take advantage of that idea and make a poem with little to no definitive meaning behind it, you should have nothing to worry about.

on Aug. 30 2014 at 6:59 pm
haley101 DIAMOND, Windsor, Connecticut
70 articles 5 photos 195 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

― Mary Oliver

the most raw emotions are the physical ones - painted with gaudy imagery. I love this poem. It reminds me of my nightmares. It reminds me of the look on my best friend's face when I told him all of it, crying, and he when he started to believe me, all he could do was cry along too. Writing helps with the coping. At least for me. 

Dr.A88 said...
on May. 5 2014 at 9:16 am
Dr.A88, Bayan Lepas, Other
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Learn for knowledge - A Wise Man -

I agree with you ! Thumbs Up ! 

on Dec. 9 2013 at 1:35 am
TheSkyOwesMeRain GOLD, Irvine, California
13 articles 1 photo 299 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments which take your breath away.

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

Great work! And I totally agree - misinterpretations of poems are annoying, especially when you pour everything into it and nobody understands its true meaning. 

on Nov. 15 2013 at 6:14 am
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

Heyyyy... Long time! It sure was nice to read something of yours after so long and I couldn't decide which ones to pick so I just took the most recent two. I completely agree with what you're trying to convey here. And what is most beautiful about this poem is the utter simplicity with which you say what you say. And I suppose ALL of us here can relate as every writer in the world is basically writing to be read and to be read is to be understood and if one isn't understood then there seems no point at all, so it is with quite a lot of fear and mingled excitement that we put our work out there for others to decipher. Anyway great job on this one.

on Nov. 11 2013 at 7:07 pm
StarlitSunrise DIAMOND, Clemmons, North Carolina
56 articles 0 photos 253 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." ~Camille Pissarro

This is incredibly meaningful! I feel like it is something that almost any writer could relate to, which is really nice. Great work! :D

on Nov. 11 2013 at 1:06 am
BorderlineGenius777 SILVER, Lewiston, Idaho
7 articles 0 photos 80 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal portion, most would be content to take their own and depart."- Socrates

I like the message behind it. 5/5

on Nov. 10 2013 at 7:18 am
Ray--yo PLATINUM, Kathmandu, Other
43 articles 2 photos 581 comments

Favorite Quote:
God Makes No Mistakes. (Gaga?)
"I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." -Liesel Meminger via Markus Zusac, "The Book Thief"

Relatable and straightforward, amazing work!

east_of_ada said...
on Nov. 6 2013 at 8:00 pm
east_of_ada, Null, Other
0 articles 0 photos 62 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off." (via Anne Sexton,"For My Lover, Returning To His Wife")

"I think I made you up inside my head.'' (via Sylvia Plath, "Mad Girl's Love Song")

"You called it cosmic; I thought it was icy." (via Ada Coen)

imo, i wouldn't worry about captializing each line's first word; without the caps, it flows so much better.   lovely poem doll; misinterpretation is so heartbreaking.

on Oct. 28 2013 at 11:01 pm
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing."
--Markus Zusak, "The Book Thief"

I did say "gut-wrenching" if that's what you mean by mentioning something more of the body.

on Oct. 28 2013 at 1:09 pm
mytherna PLATINUM, Melbourne, Florida
32 articles 1 photo 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
Earth without art is just... Eh.

I understand this... I've had so many people misinterperate my poems. Or worse, not care about what they say. And that, in the worst ways, hurts.

on Oct. 26 2013 at 11:09 pm
AnInkling SILVER, Castle Rock, Colorado
6 articles 0 photos 110 comments

Favorite Quote:
“This is your life. Is it everything you dreamed that it would be, when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?” Switchfoot
“Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Galatians 4:16

The idea is pretty cool, but I felt like there was a lack of rhythm in the poem, so it did not flow very well. I really liked the metaphor about "skin, bone and blood", but it would have been nice to have carried it through better. Like mentioning a"fleshy poem" or the "living poem". Also you should capitize the words at the begining of the lines. 

on Oct. 25 2013 at 8:15 pm
SpeakerOfTheDead PLATINUM, Lemont, Illinois
27 articles 31 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
― Henry David Thoreau

As soon I as I read  skin and bones I knew it would be good. I love that line. 

on Oct. 23 2013 at 4:10 pm
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing."
--Markus Zusak, "The Book Thief"

I date all of my poems too, but I posted these dates on teenink because I posted them so long after I wrote them. Thanks so much for your comment and I'm so glad you can relate!

Mckay ELITE said...
on Oct. 23 2013 at 2:15 pm
Mckay ELITE, Somewhere, Virginia
146 articles 0 photos 2230 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."
—Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997
“Crazy people are considered mad by the rest of the society only because their intelligence isn't understood.”
― Weihui Zhou

I know what you're writing about in this poem. I sure do. As writers, we write things that we interpret as one way and hope that our readers will see in the way we did as we wrote it. However, it almost never works that way. Someone else sees it in a whole different manner. Poetry has myriad facets. It's like a kaliedescope (did I spell that correctly?). I love how you say you'll make this poem "with skin and bones and blood". It's chilling. Reminds me of Sylvia Plath. Nicely written. And I love how you dated it. I date all of my poems; I just don't include it here on Teenink.