A bed or a pillow serves as much more than simply a place to rest. The softness and buoyancy perfectly absorbs punches, and instantly relieves stress. Sometimes a bed seems suitable for one's quiet tears and other times a bed simply serves as a place for minds to explore the depths of a subconscious mind. This poem highlights the connection between a bed and a boy, utilizing the bed's point of view to reflect the day-to-day feelings one might bring to sleep every night.
In the first third of the poem, I describe the bed to perceive the boy as angry, through his actions and body language. For example, "His fists strike me today". After this line, I use tactical imagery to further connect the boy's fury, with phrases like "flesh ripple". However, though angry, the poem also conveys his vulnerability seen when the boy lies against the bed, with the word "helplessness". As beds are resistant, the bed supports the boy but still feels strained by the weight of his emotional distress, seen through the lines "I offer him my full support, but while he surrenders to their pressure, I cave to his".
In the next third, the bed greatly feels the weight of the boy, especially elevating his emotional pain. The bed feels his form, "[emulating] a circle", curling up into a vulnerable position. Throughout the poem, the sheets represent the bed's skin; "saltwater droplets tremble against my skin, where they sit on intricate woven threads". The bed sheets absorbs the boy's tears, "[carrying] their weight", thus showing the bed's responsibility for alleviating the boy's pain and providing him with comfort.
The last portion of the poem conveys a deeper, more pleasant sleep, seen through the usage of the line "His back rests on me today", which contrasts previous lines where the adjectives represent hardness or even violence, for example, "heavy". In this third of the poem, the boy rests peacefully, shown through the usage of the word "stir" and the phrase "breathing thickens", both connotative of deep sleep.
While beds do absorb much of the pain of a human mind, the bed is a metaphorical construction of a passive character in a relationship dynamic. The passivity of the reader mimics the bed, connoting to sexual abuse. The bed, or the bed-like character absorbs and tries to match the wavering feelings of their abuser, basking in their triumphs and happiness as well has feeling firsthand the shock of their anger or sadness. The passive character absorbs the weight of their problems, and often feels paralysis under their firm hand and control. Both the bad and the good days are at substantial levels - enough for the passive character to stay, in effort of being there for the good days.
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Subsistence
PoetryA five poem collection, detailing religion, home, mentality, heroes, and abuse. Each poem follows with an analysis and justification. "The toxic existential words of divination or sacrilege wear out my lungs, so instead I search for sufferable air...
