Hello again! Having previous read your guys' work it's a pleasure to frequent it again!
The first emotion I felt while reading this was anger. An anger that would arise after the treachery or betrayal of someone close to oneself.
Overall I see this as an expression of indignation and pain over somebody's family hurting them in one way or another. Blood, or familial bonds as I personally reckon is represented by roses as stated in the second stanza. The speaker feels hurt and betrayed because their family has done wrong against them. Now they are dealing with the aftermath. That aftermath including intrusive negative thoughts and difficulty to speak up or express themselves.
I think everyone can relate to the speaker. I've found myself in situations where I want to speak up for myself. But because of self doubt and self loathing I end of just standing there silent. Thus when the 5th stanza comes in and it states to "...For once, show that you care" while I do see this a plea by the speaker for their family to love them, the way it loops back around in the final stanza to me is representative of a call to arms. For myself it is an urging to stand up for yourself. To know that you matter, and those who would question your worth should be challenged head on and crushed.
My favorite line is "You cast them away like wind hurls seeds". To me this shows optimism for the future of the speaker. Even as they lament how their family disposes of them as the wind may do to a seed, they have a chance to grow into something great. As a squirrel may carry an acorn away from its tree, that same acorn can grown into something as indomitable and grand as an oak.
My only suggestion for improvement is in the fourth stanza it says "Turn my demons into friends, Feel the flowerbed of misery". I believe you could have possibly strengthened the symbolism and parallelisms to gardening by rephrasing it to something akin to "Turn my demons into the fertilizer, To feed the flowerbed of misery." Nevertheless I do see repetition of some key lines throughout the poem, including the line about flowerbeds being used as the climax at the end of the poem to express contempt and anger towards the 'family.' Perhaps a way the morph these two elements together could be to conclude with something like;
"Turns out betrayal is the fertilizer
To feed the flowerbed of my misery
Now writhe as a dying bug,
as you feel the flowerbed of my misery"
I hope this has been of some use and encouragement.
Yours,
GoodieGoat
Points: 755
Reviews: 29
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