Turn away, while I lose my composure.

by Aquareed

Published July 10, 2012

In Poetry

If I could breathe underwater, I would swim to the very bottom of the very deepest ocean, where human kind has never reached its dirty, prying fingers. I would curl up in a ball, like a wounded animal. And breathe.

Don’t try to comfort me. I don’t want your kind words or your head on my shoulder. Please turn away. Maybe if I become still enough, silent enough, I’ll be blown away with the wind like hot desert sand.

Please turn away. I’ve had almost everything taken from me. I can feel the hollows in my bones, the emptiness between.  All I have left is my pride. Please don’t take that. I can feel the hard lump in my throat. I know I am about to lose control.

Please turn away, while I lose my composure.

Comments & reviews · 2
User avatar
JesusLvr18
Review
JesusLvr18 wrote a review Review · Jul 10, 2012

I think this could be a poem! Let me try:

If I could breathe underwater,
I would swim to the very bottom
of the very deepest ocean,
where humankind has never reached
it's dirty, prying fingers.

I would curl up in a ball,
like a wounded animal.
And breathe.

Don't try to comfort me.
I don't want your kind words
or your head on my shoulder.

Please turn away.
Maybe if I become still enough,
silent enough,
I'll be blown away with the wind
like hot desert sand.

Please turn away.
I've had almost everything taken from me.
I can feel the hollows in my bones,
the emptiness between.

All I have left is my pride.
Please don't take that.
I can feel the hard lump in my throat.
I know I am about to lose control.

Please turn away,
while I lose my composure.

I don't know. I like it both ways!

Write On,

~~Heidi~~

User avatar
prolixity
Review
prolixity wrote a review Review · Jul 10, 2012

Hi there! This is pretty short, but it definitely has potential. At this stage, I wouldn't really call it a short story, since there doesn't seem to be a plot. It's almost more of a poem, like a prose poem. So, you could either turn it into a poem or build a short story around it. You already have a character's voice established, so if you can come up with what happened, you can make a story. I know, easier said than done, right?

I really liked the imagery, especially the parts about blowing away like sand and the hollows in his/her bones. And the title, I like that too. It definitely made me want to read it.

Keep working on this! I'm excited to see what you can do with it.



The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices; to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicions can destroy. A thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own.
— Rod Serling, Twilight Zone