Beauty

[lisamilligan]

Running as fast as I can
heart pounding
I can feel his wings beating
by the wind swirling around me
my lynx instincts are alive
as I try to escape this hungry bird
but I’m no match for his cunning
speed or strength

My breath rasping and out of energy
I know I’ve lost this race
as his claws slice through my body
I am his to devour
hidden wide eyes peer
through leaves and branches
at the raptor who tears me apart
with wild abandon

They watch as his razor sharp beak
pierces my chest and rips out my heart
tearing it to pieces between beak and talons
only to drop it on the ground
unwanted

Watchful hidden eyes stare at the bird
as he takes to the sky with his prize
carrying what’s left of me away
gripped in talons to his feeding place
and they gaze at my heart in tatters on the ground

Spring turns to Summer
days of blistering heat that dry everything
turning my heart into dust
that disintegrates into the soil
Summer turns to Autumn
this place of dying lies buried
under brightly colored layers

Next comes Winter
with its punishing winds
and blankets of snow
freezing the ground
hardening the tiny pieces
of my heart

The raptor continues
his never ending obsession of the hunt
year in and year out
though now he's after much younger
more tender prey
completely oblivious that
a gentle sparrow dropped seeds
that got stuck to his tiny feet
as he fed amongst the grass and violets
and landed where I died

But in the pounding rain
these seeds sank into the ground
and were fertilized by the shredded remains
of my unwanted heart torn apart
so that one warm sunny day
slowly through the lush green grass
beautiful deep purple violets burst forth
that sway gently in the wind
making beauty out of devastation

[lisamilligan]

Author's Note: I originally posted this under General Poetry, but I think it was interpreted literally instead of as the metaphors I meant it to be, so I decided to post it here.

[Kittiedragon]

Wow, very vivid. Reminds me of jurassic park!
It's like a circle of life, and quite a contrast- from carnage to peaceful flowers. Interesting. Lots of references to a heart in tatters...

I'm not sure this really belongs in this catergory, but I guess its your choice where you decide to put it.

[lisamilligan]

Thanks kittiedragon.  I guess this piece is hard to place!  I put it in General Poetry, and people took it as a "circle of life" type piece of poetry, instead of how it was about my heart was torn out by someone and thrown "to the ground unwanted".  :'( :'( :'(My choice was to end it birthing "beauty" by having my heart be something stronger and more beautiful to give to someone else.  Perhaps it is "uncategorizable"  Maybe the metphors are lost on many.  Thanks for your comments.

Lisa

[Kittiedragon]

Ah, I think I do understand a bit more now.
I think that most people would have been distracted by the vividity rather than understanding the underlying metaphors. The image of a heart in tatters was a very strong one, perhaps some took it too literally and not as a broken heart, discarded by a preditor of love.
Reading it a second time I can sort of see some references to falling in love in the first stansa. Perhaps, as there are few clues as to the real meaning behind the poem, we're forced to believe the metaphors as literal happenings.
No problem

[davidmm]

lisamilligan

You have a well written poem here with wonderfully worked metaphors.
Dont be dismayed at the different interpretations placed upon it; it is a sign of a multi layered work that makes people think.
That is no bad thing!