Guilty, Without Sins
"Do you know what,
In all my years,
Has been the most troubling
Of human emotions?"
I looked at him,
His face smooth as porcelain,
Cold, polished,
Another mask without a stain,
Or a statue left in place,
Still, revered at the end of the day.
I asked him,
Not out of curiosity,
"What is it?"
"Guilt," he answered,
A word dropped in silence,
Like a spoon hitting a plate—
Sharp, but without violence.
“And sins aren’t needed for it.”
My breath caught,
Like a glass full,
Sitting on a table,
Waiting to spill.
"Guilt seeps into everything,"
He continued.
Did he feel it too?
Obviously not.
The weight–
the slow, sinking dip
Of a chair too old,
Its legs almost gone,
Quietly collapsing,
But you sit all alone?
Guilt.
It’s the overdue bill,
Left on the counter,
Staring back at you,
But you don’t know how to pay it,
Don’t know how much you owe.
I looked at him,
His stoic grace as precise
As a surgeon’s hand,
Cutting through flesh with no remorse.
And I wondered how he knew,
How he,
Could speak of something
So quietly messy and human.
@azurePond
your style is captivating!
@Heather225 Thank you Heather!
@azurePond
Your creation and control of tension is fantastic. I absolutely am entranced by the way you transform the mundane into the jarring and stressful through clever use of simile and metaphor; Like a spoon hitting a plate, the slump of the collapsing chair, the water glass ready to spill. Everyday objects become loaded with meaning and a creeping sense of ineffable dread.
The imagery you have used to describe guilt and the reaction to it are surprising and so understandable that one cannot help but think 'why did I not see it that way before?'; stanza 6 particularly struck a chord with me.
The interpersonal relationships your poems describe are so vivid and complex, and always feel like we only see a brief glimpse of the surface. And as much as I can appreciate and admire your crafting of them, they do make me sad for you that they rarely seem to hold great joy. Your analysis of others through the narrators voice is detailed and focussed, and it feels very intimate that we get to perceive how your narrator perceives. But there still seems to be some distance, not clinical nor impersonal, but rather an emotional level hinted at but still held quietly in check.
Perhaps I read too much into it, or project. Such is the potency of your poetry to get one thinking.
@BastionKnight I'm really glad the imagery and tension resonated with you. Stanza 6 is one of my favourites too, so it’s great to hear it struck a chord. Your reflections mean a lot, and I’m so glad the poem got you thinking. Thanks again!
@azurePond 😭😭 it's so true, every word rings truth, it really is the hardest of all emotions. Thank you for sharing this with us ❤❤ it was really well written ❤
@Tinywhisper11 It means a lot to hear that it resonated with you. And you're absolutely right – it’s such a tough emotion to capture, but I’m glad it came through. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts! ❤
@azurePond ❤❤❤