Torture Garden

by Cantchangeme   Aug 6, 2020


These animals were picked for the waste they make
So that your roses could grow strong in time
May your garden soil be tempered with blood and bone
May you find the strength to continue the climb

Those that bloom will attract insects and beasts
The shrike will make visceral use of your thorns
To bare witness to suffering in silence is a death
Yet neither the prey nor the predator mourns

In Autumn we may shed our rotten fly covered skin
To retreat to dream of summers rich killing field
As the snow creeps in nature’s reminder begins
To the winter night all things must yield

    report violation
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Latest Comments

  • 4 years ago

    by Poet on the Piano

    This poem honestly had so many layers, I found myself having to re-read some lines! It's unnerving at times (in the best possible way, I mean) and one of the most unique pieces I've read this week.

    My favorite lines:
    "To bare witness to suffering in silence is a death
    Yet neither the prey nor the predator mourns"

    - I like how this could apply to many instances, that even if we are not the victims of something, and we are not personally experiencing that pain, when we are witness to it, we contribute. There's almost a coldness in the next few lines, or perhaps just a statement in the cycle of life. Or we become desensitized to death and suffering.

    The final stanza tying in all of the seasons makes me think of the dreams we have each season, to be somewhere else, to be in a different month, as if we are never content. Yet, we must always face the winter, which many seem to dread and is where the growth ends and we have to wait not only for the warmth but for hopes of blossoming in the future.

    Fantastic write, will definitely read again in the next day or so!

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