The Splitting Ground

5 posts
User avatar
Gender Female
Points 1145
Reviews 104
I see
with my eyes,
so dry from lack of sleep,
but do not feel,
in my heart
and my soul,
the way I should,
when you tell me.
I'm numb,
frostbitten to the point
of painlessness.

But when I finally watch
Dad trudge off,
trunks in hand,
to his new family
and his new life,
without me
or Mom,
I drown.

I'm struggling
against manacles,
which bind me
and render me helpless
as the earth splits apart
from in front of me,
craggy and uneven,
secluding Mom and I
on our own little island.

Mom stands by,
impassive,
robotic,
forgetting me
and her marriage
and everything
she ever knew.

That night,
with a trickling stream
of wet, ugly tears
dripping down my
hot, crimson cheeks,
I wait
and wait
until Mom leaves
to go out with friends
and cheer herself up,
the click
of the front door shutting,
deafening,
like the roar of a lion
next to my silent tears.

I head to the cabinet,
left miraculously unlocked,
and gaze at a dream come true,
my heaven on earth.

There is everything,
whiskey
and gin
and beer
and wine
and champagne
and the sweet,
sweet,
solace
of alcohol.

I drink
and drink
but don't feel better.
Instead, I feel warmer
and more desperate
and willing
to do anything
without consequence,
invinsible
when there is nobody
to disappoint.

I flip it open,
my cell phone,
and text this guy I know,
this jackass I know,
who likes to
undress girls
with his cold,
gray eyes.

He's there,
quick and snappy,
the garish headlights
of his borrowed car
blinding me,
as his wheels
crackle
on the blue rocks
of the long
drive.

He hands me the bong
and smiles,
as I lead him
into my room,
with it's lavender walls
and it's memories,
making it watch
as I slip deeper
into the abyss
of desperation.

When we're done,
he just drives away
and leaves me
to sit
and steam
and cry,
with more than tears,
thick ropey sobs,
that don't end
because I don't
want them to.

But when
it does end,
I sigh
and don't let them win.

They won't win,
no way in hell,
will I be
a messed-up statistic
because of
the mistakes
of others,
the wrongs
that weren't mine.

I throw the last bottle
of the drinks,
a sweet red wine,
with its burn
and its sugar
and its everything
at the wall.

It clatters,
shards falling
and scratching
the perfect floor,
with its flawless sheen,
scarring it
as I've been scarred,
but not ruining it.

I stand up
and head to bed,
knowing I'll never be the same,
but that I will be stronger.

Every day,
from then on,
I hop over
the break in the ground
that I thought,
isolated me forever.

Every day,
I smile,
knowing that I won,
that I'm a survior,
like all the others,
whose lives have been ruined,
by the deeds
of others.

I survived.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known..." A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 7297
Reviews 156
I see
with my eyes, unnecessary, we already know this
so dry from lack of sleep, this is very un-poetic description
but do not feel,
in my heart
and my soul,
the way I should,
when you tell me. this, is very, choppy. the. flow is messed, up. The punctuation is incorrect. It should be ' when you tell me: or When you tell me "I'm.."
I'm numb,
frostbitten to the point
of painlessness. nice imagery here

But when I finally watch
Dad trudge off,
trunks in hand,
to his new family
and his new life, 'his new' repetition is boring
without me
or Mom,
I drown. nice ending here

I'm struggling
against manacles,
which bind me I think that the way you're breaking up the poem is too choppy for the first two lines
and render me helpless
as the earth splits apart
from in front of me,
craggy and uneven,
secluding Mom and I
on our own little island. this leaves a nice image in our minds

Mom stands by,
impassive,
robotic, again, too choppy. Read this out loud to yourself and you'll understand what I mean
forgetting me
and her marriage
and everything
she ever knew.

That night,
with a trickling stream 'with' is a weird word to use here. The tears need to be described as an animate thing for you to use 'with'. Does that make sense? I don't know if it does.
of wet, ugly tears
dripping down my
hot, crimson cheeks, period.
I waitcomma
and waitcomma. The "I wait and wait" is very cliche
until Mom leaves
to go out with friends you're explaining this is a very plain way, try to make it more interesting
and cheer herself up,
the click
of the front door shutting,
deafening, describing something quiet as deafening is cliche
like the roar of a lion
next to my silent tears.

I head to the cabinet,
left miraculously unlocked, why miraculously if you've described your mom as passive and searching for distraction?
and gaze at a dream come true,
my heaven on earth. cliche. but I like how you're creating suspense

There is everything,period.
whiskey
and gin
and beer the list gets tedious
and wine
and champagne
and the sweet, and? That's all alcohol.
sweet,
solace
of alcohol.

I drink
and drink you already said 'I wait and wait'
but don't feel better.
Instead, I feel warmer
and more desperate try to avoid saying 'and' at the beginning of a line
and willing
to do anything
without consequence, this doesn't make sense with the line above. Everything has consequences you just perceive them as without. You need to explain this.[/]
invinsible [b]*invincible

when there is nobody
to disappoint.

I flip it open,
my cell phone, Just go right out and say your phone in the first line
and text this guy I know,
this jackass I know, love this line
who likes to
undress girls
with his cold,
gray eyes. beautiful,

He's there,
quick and snappy, 'snappy' isn't the right adjective for the atmosphere you're creating
the garish headlights garish is a great word
of his borrowed car
blinding me,
as his wheels
crackle
on the blue rocks blue?
of the long
drive.

He hands me the bong instead of just saying 'bong' describe it. show don't tell.
and smiles,
as I lead him
into my room,
with it's lavender walls I love how you describe this innocent color while this is happening. very clever.
and it's memories,
making it watch
as I slip deeper
into the abyss
of desperation.

When we're done,
he just drives away
and leaves me
to sit
and steam The fact that you're steaming doesn't go well with the image of your sobbing your eyes out. I'd pick one emotion
and cry,
with more than tears,
thick ropey sobs,
that don't end
because I don't
want them to. love this.

But when
it does end,
I sigh
and don't let them win. This is weird because 'end' and 'win' kind of rhyme

They won't win,
no way in hell,
will I be
a messed-up statistic
because of
the mistakes
of others,
the wrongs
that weren't mine.

I throw the last bottle
of the drinks, drinks? Just describe it as liquor or alcohol because 'the drinks' sounds weird.
a sweet red wine,
with its burn
and its sugar
and its everything
at the wall. nice image

It clatters, clatter is the wrong adjective. Don't ignore the mess you've made on the wall, it's a beautiful imagery opportunity.
shards falling
and scratching
the perfect floor,
with its flawless sheen,
scarring it
as I've been scarred, I like how you're also talking about yourself
but not ruining it.

I stand up
and head to bed,
knowing I'll never be the same,
but that I will be stronger.

Every day,
from then on,
I hop over
the break in the ground
that I thought, this is just an awkward sounding stanza, there's not anything 'special' about it.
isolated me forever.

Every day,
I smile,
knowing that I won,
that I'm a survior, *survivor
like all the others,
whose lives have been ruined,
by the deeds
of others.

I survived.
The ending is a bit weak.


This is a great story, with some revision it could be absolutely stunning.
Good luck and keep writing!
-KatTrain
So, a dyslexic man walks into a bra....




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 1145
Reviews 104
Thanks so much. I've been revising and revising this but a lot of people try to be too nice when they review and it doesn't help. Thanks for the honesty and I'll try to make it better.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known..." A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 8572
Reviews 424
Maay goooooood! This was endless! I got through it though, and it wasn't that painful :D

I'll begin with the lesser good stuff; (I won't go in detail with the nitpicks since Kat did a great job with that)
- For one, your stanzas and structure doesn't make much sence. The stanzas are irregular and differs in size and the flow and full impression becomes better if you keep a certain pattern. With the structure, I mean the length of your lines which also differ alot and makes the flow get choppy which is my point no. 2. Third thing is the imagery... I find many parts of this piece quite cliché and lacks imagery. Spice it up a bit! Fourth and last thing; PUNCTUATION! Oh no, there's a fifth one, I don't like the ending.. it's,, eh, unsatisfying.. it's so abrupt.

But that's the improvable things, what I liked about this was one the topic, cause it's a very sore one and even if the way you delivered the message could've been better I still think you managed to get all the emotions and thoughts that go through mind during an event like this through.

So... just, polish this a bit and it'll be great :)

Good Luck & Keep Writing

// Demoness
"Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice." - Robert Frost




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 8572
Reviews 424
Haha, this is a turn of event.. I thought my post dissappeared when my computer died... turns out there were two posts.. looking just the same. Haha, well now you've got 2 reviews.. prooving the same points.. just a bit different wording :P Haha, I was so sad that that long review dissappeared and so I spent 5 minutes writing a new one.. Tzz, you should be honored. I've spent 15 minutes on this little piece now :D

But it really was quite amazing overall, even though it had it's faults :D

Good Luck & Keep Writing

// Demoness
"Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice." - Robert Frost



I continue to be a reverse hipster, I only do things after they've ceased being cool
— BluesClues