The Body Breaks, Too | Teen Ink

The Body Breaks, Too

September 7, 2009
By CandeeViki18 BRONZE, Vineland, New Jersey
CandeeViki18 BRONZE, Vineland, New Jersey
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I had once been a forest.
I glistened with a magical light.
Every blade of emerald grass
was speckled with tiny beads of water,
which made me gleam like crystals
in the early morning.
The soil was rich,
softly compact and spongy
when you strode across it.
The trees that held me perfectly upright,
like rooted legs,
sends a spectrum of colors
with each branch stretching out
as far as they can to capture my beauty,
embracing it tightly.
With each breath I take,
wind blows,
and the trees filter the water crystals,
breaking them into smaller segments.
Then the golden sun catches the crystals,
mid-air,
and then they twinkle and shine like tiny diamonds.

My heart had been its source of life.
Like crimson blood rushing through veins,
a river,
ocean blue,
flowed through the forest,
dispersing life.
It pooled and circled in a perfect ring
around each tree,
traveled in trickles
between each individual blade of grass,
and ended its journey,
seeping deeply into the soil.
With each beat of my heart,
the river pumps into the forest,
creating a beauty that was a sight to behold.
But my heart had fallen in love.
It beat more and more,
contracting to create a rushing flow of the river,
dispersing the life so quickly through the forest.
I welcomed the feeling
and the forest shone more vibrantly.

But all at once,
my heart broke,
and the river was poisoned,
flowing much more slowly.
The soil dried to a gray,
cracking and flaking.
The slow poisoned river continued flowing.
The emerald blade of grass
became dull and brittle,
stiffened and broke off,
fluttering in sad clusters to the ground.
The slow poisoned river continued flowing.
Until it finally infected the trees.
The dark began to chip.
The leathery leaves went brown and papery
before they broke off.
The branches twisted and moaned in agony
and then limped in despair,
exposing itself to the harshness of the world.

And then,
the body and forest was destroyed,
poisoned by the acidic rain that poured into
my heart.


The author's comments:
I wrote this poem for a personal challenge. I have read so much poetry about what a heart break FEELS like, but most poems could never capture it correctly. After all, words have to be strong in order for you to actually feel the meaning. So I challenged myself to write a poem that captured what a heart break would LOOK like, since I hardly read any poems like so. I tried to be descriptive and vivid, and to my surprise, the piece came out better than I thought it would. I hope it paints a picture in your mind as well when you read it.

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This article has 2 comments.


on Sep. 2 2021 at 3:12 pm
Crazywolfiegirl2 PLATINUM, Kington, Other
26 articles 3 photos 284 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. —Rachel Carson

This is so sad, it's not like anything I have ever read before.... Thanks for sharing, it's really beautiful.

on Apr. 24 2014 at 11:33 am
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

beautiful imagery in this