avatarJonathan Greene

Summary

The poem "I Wonder What Death Has Done to Me" reflects on the profound impact of loss and grief, exploring how death shapes an individual's identity and emotional landscape.

Abstract

"I Wonder What Death Has Done to Me" is a poignant poem that delves into the personal and transformative effects of death on the speaker. The author, Jonathan Greene, articulates the emotional turmoil and sense of incompleteness that follows the loss of loved ones. The poem conveys the speaker's introspection on how death's relentless nature has left them scarred and questioning their own existence. It paints a vivid picture of sorrow, with tears symbolizing the unending grief that leaves the speaker feeling broken and hollow. The poem also touches on the paradox of death, as it both haunts the speaker with the absence of those taken and beckons them towards an eventual reunion in the afterlife. The speaker grapples with the legacy of their loss, suggesting that the sorrow has become a part of their very being, aging them beyond their years and leaving them as a mere shadow of their former self.

Opinions

  • The speaker views death as a transformative force that has reshaped their identity, leaving them "barely whole."
  • There is a sense of resentment towards death for its role in causing unending grief and for leaving the speaker behind to deal with the aftermath.
  • The poem suggests that the speaker feels a profound connection to those who have passed, with their tears serving as the only remaining link to their shared past.
  • The author implies that the speaker sees themselves as irreparably changed, with the potential for what they could have been overshadowed by their encounters with death.
  • There is a notion that the speaker is resigned to their fate, accepting the inevitability of death while still yearning for a life less marred by loss.

I Wonder What Death Has Done To Me

A Poem

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

I wonder what death has done to me with its morbid claws and insatiable appetite for melancholic performance Sinking into me like the last note of the most beautiful song that you can never hear again and may never remember the same

It’s stood before me so many times before and taken someone I love while I remain broken and withered from another taste of Destiny

Tears fall gently caressing my cheek like the last raindrop from that storm that caused flooding of the heart and soul My heart and soul never mended

I wonder what death has done to me how it’s shaped me molded me into the pieces of a man that I am today Barely whole held together by the hope that it won’t come for me

It haunts me with who it holds away from me While I remain a shell of who I was with them Yearning for moments lost to Death

Tears stop Too many have fallen leaving a pool of unmemories to water me slowly into submission and into the ground to be with them again

I wonder what death has done to me with its pathological desire to take those I love and leave me behind In their wake A shadow of what I once was A construct of a man who could have been more

Maybe death becomes me as the sadness sews wrinkles into my face to tell the story of pain I endured from its pallid hands as it watched me shatter inside

Tears are all I have beyond memories to make me whole and the puddle I leave is the only connection to my past Spilling over with emotion and grief as death smiles upon me the stepchild it never had always wishing for something better and just getting more Death

© Jonathan Greene 2019

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