Burning Bridges

Poem by: Melancholic Wisdom

Reads: 440 | Likes: 0 | Shelves: 0 | Comments: 5

Sometimes, you're only choice is to burn a bridge, no matter how much it hurts.

These bridges,

O’ they are a-burning,

And i don’t think I’m going to stomp them out now.

If the bridge could catch fire in the first place,

Then I wonder why it was even built.

Some people only stay for a season,

And they always leave without a reason.

This time I had a chance to burn a bridge,

And I took it because you were a bad friend.

Once things got tough,

You backed away,

Pushed me down and kicked dirt in my face,

Before you ran away,across the bridge,

Thinking I would come crawling back.

But you didn’t expect me,

To walk over to your side,

Just to douse it with kerosene.

And I lit our bridge on fire,

And watched it burn to ashes.

I shed a couple tears back then,

But then I looked through the flames,

And saw that you didn’t care at all.

That’s when I fanned the flames,

And made sure the bridge was burned,

Before I turned away,

With the smokestacks billowing high,

Into the morning sky.

Submitted: September 09, 2015

Poetry love loss friendship poetry heartbreak breakup fire burning bridges

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Comments

Tangelo

I like the imagery. Fire is always a powerful and insightful symbol, as are bridges. Many songs have that too, with bridges falling down, burning. I feel like this poem kinda jumped around a lot with the facts and feelings so I was a bit confused. But don't take it too personally...this is still a pretty moving poem.

Fri, September 11th, 2015 6:01pm

Author
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Thank you! I kinda figured it jumps around a bit, it's not the cleanest piece of work I've ever written haha. I was in a weird mood when I wrote this, but yeah I noticed. Consistency was off, but it's cool, this is a piece of work that needs criticism. Glad you still enjoyed it though.

Fri, September 11th, 2015 3:10pm

bobthebuilder

Every poem is interpreted differently by the reader, but it can be controlled by the writer to some degree not just by words but by pace and formatting. I think you did a really good job with this. I like short lines for emphasis and conflict can be really well expressed with off-paced free verse. There was a reason it cam out this way, and a good writer follows his heart. You can always write something else later, but each piece stands on its own.

Sat, September 12th, 2015 4:17pm

Author
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You have a point there. It was more rushed than most of the things I do, I was scatter brained at the time haha. Thanks for the kind words though, I appreciate it.

Sat, September 12th, 2015 12:26pm

Keke Serene

"With the smokestacks billowing high, into the morning sky." I loooove that line, bc I feel like it represents a new day after you decide that you've had enough of someone whos toxic. A new day of maybe having more respect for yourself than for the crap other people give you. Id like to think there's a special place in hell for "bad friends." Bc friends are just idk. They should be a lot of things, like an upgraded human being. But most of the time they have glitches that I can't seem to get over. Like you never text me first? Glitch. Uninstall. You never want to hang out? Glitch. Uninstall. You are selfish as fuck?! GLITCH. UNINSTALL. But anyways I'm getting super off topic. I liked the way this flowed, myself, I think the jarring kind of pace was appropriate... Save the beautiful flow and rhythm for Dreaming of Utopia, not the painful, angry burning of a bridge. Well done, as always, you're such a great poet! When's that prose coming?? ;;)

Wed, November 25th, 2015 2:24am

Author
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Actually wrote this about several "friends" Ive had, and in a lot of cases I had to burn the bridge first. Its very hard but ultimatley Im much better because of it. The way this flowed was weird, I was deep in writers block but I was still able to get this out, even if its not my best. Personally, I left the jarring pace and disorganized flow in to represent the confusion and intense hurt and anger that can come with loss of a friend. For me anyways, when that happens im very disorganized mentally, obviously, so I thought representing that in the flow would be nice. Thank you for reading!

Tue, November 24th, 2015 10:34pm

Keke Serene

Nik! I am upset you didn't praise my interpretation of the morning sky! I was really proud of that XXD

Wed, November 25th, 2015 7:41pm

Author
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XD Oh Im sorry my bad xD Its a really good interperation, and it fits with the overall theme of this poem

Wed, November 25th, 2015 3:10pm