I decayed for you.

Poem by: Roxanne B.

Reads: 845 | Likes: 5 | Shelves: 2 | Comments: 8

Cover photo by Holli Diggs
https://www.facebook.com/cursivecaptures

I decayed for you

And handed you a trophy full of my teeth

You took it and cocked your head

I decayed for you

And worked my fingers raw all night long

You called around 10pm to let me know you missed me

I decayed for you

And dragged my ragged flesh home

I covered myself in posies before we both fell asleep

I woke up from my eternal slumber just to yell at you at breakfast

I decayed for you, I decayed for you, I decayed for you I told you

And plucked my vocal cords from my throat and framed them on the wall

You stared at them & wished you’d said nothing at all

I decayed for you

And turned my stomach inside out

You gave in & dug around in there to make sure it was empty

I decayed for you

And wrapped my intestines into a noose around my neck

You unwrapped them and hung them around yours instead

I decayed for you

I told you

And then

You decayed for me

And I was filled with dread.

I picked up the trophy on the mantle and looked down the hall

Teeth were littered scantily and they weren’t mine at all

The vocal cords I hung for you were now under your pillow

My intestines were thrown about all over the bathroom wall

I picked up each tooth, afraid of how each might fall

What have I done to you?

This is not what I wanted at all.

I didn’t know what I wanted.

I just know that

I decayed for you

And I guess… I didn’t have to.

Submitted: March 15, 2021

Poetry relationship codependency codependent

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Comments

Stormbird Throneshaker

Very descriptive from deep down in the proverbial gut. Brilliantly penned.

Mon, March 15th, 2021 12:23pm

Author
Reply

Thank you so much!! Your kind words mean a lot to me. This one was deeply personal to me, so thank you again for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it!

Mon, March 15th, 2021 11:48am

Ezra Enzo

Very good. For me, gore-like topics have always been a sort-of no for me, but you used those elements in a poem about a realization of solitude in a relation, and to emphasize over and over again that "you decayed for them" over and over again really puts the metaphor in place and gives the poem a more serious effect. Great work. - E.E

Mon, March 15th, 2021 2:13pm

Author
Reply

Hi Ezra, thank you so much for your wonderful review! It's so great to hear from you again! I totally get not being a gore person. I feel like it's often used in a "shock value" way that detracts a lot from a story or a movie. I'm glad you felt it was used okay here :) It's been so interesting and thought-provoking to hear your feedback of what I've written. You're very good at relating your thoughts!

Thank you so much again for reading and commenting!

Mon, March 15th, 2021 12:23pm

DLCannon

Oh my God! This was awesome! Love the part about the teeth! I could only imagine the horror of this of it were real. But the intestence kind of convinced me it was not literal. But you t felt real! Love it!

Fri, March 19th, 2021 1:27am

Author
Reply

Aw thank you so much!! I'm so glad you liked it!

Thank you again for your comment and for reading, it means a lot to me!

Roxanne

Thu, April 22nd, 2021 12:18am

tom mcmullen

Like the stuff about teeth and intestines Roxanne, I've got dentures myself!

Mon, March 22nd, 2021 1:31am

Author
Reply

Thank you thank you! I don't quite have dentures yet, but I might in the future if I keep having dreams about my teeth falling out, lol.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting Tom!

Roxanne

Thu, April 22nd, 2021 12:20am

Matthew Hair

A great descriptive poem. I'm not sure I truly understand the deeper implications at play here. The gore is, dare I say, classy. Usually, the gore is all over-exaggerated and I find it sort of silly. You handle it well here. You've done a fantastic job.

Sun, October 24th, 2021 12:29am

Author
Reply

Thank you so much Matthew! I agree that some gore in literature can be totally over-the-top and not relevant to the story. It can be used for shock instead of actually bringing emotion and color to a character or story. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I really appreciate you reading and reviewing my poem!

Wed, November 3rd, 2021 7:21pm