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Emotional Shrapnel

Lurid looks have been thrown at me
Deadly daggers sent to pierce my heart
Why do some insist on acting beastly 
waging war in attempts to tear me apart?
How long can I go on pretending I'm not in pain
hiding my tears by calling them emotional rain?
I need compassion but I'm afraid to ask
so, I conceal my trauma behind a face mask

There's an art that some have honed,
weapons sharpened to break my bones
Not the kind of childish chiding of 'sticks and stones,'
but those spoken with bitterness and taunting
The kind that fires torpedoes from torrid tongues
flaunting their ire and desire to wound me in a fight
with words that shatter like shrapnel in flight

A flame throwing pen, firing splotches of ink 
to pierce my skin, tattooing me with their brand
Mark me as 'prey,' shooting as if in reprimand
Just enough to keep me flinching... not quite dead
They laugh it off, calling it 'friendly fire'
No excuse accepted from those who conspire

No burning steel rod can cauterize my wounds
I cannot anesthetize the festering gashes 
A sharp-bladed tongue bites much too deep,
making my blood flow in repeated clashes
No mere prick or scratch do they inflict
as thorns draw drops from a finger opened bare...
foul words end relationships with a bullet's nick

I still breathe and I've no fear to speak
I've been set free, and no longer weak
My tongue holds daggers of its own
and it's been whetted on a grindstone 
I hungered for strength and parched with thirst
to take vengeance as my anger grew
Emotions boiled that were long past due
but felling them would label me a wrong doer 
which is something I never want to be
Vengeance will never be mine to take
realizing that is what set me free

Emotionally, I was a casualty, a tragic story
about pens and mouths becoming an allegory
Symbols used as extended metaphors
But why is it I was being targeted in wars
by Gollums and Freddies, and evil Chuckies?
Shrapnel lodged in the heart leaves jagged scars

Copyright © Lin Lane | Year Posted 2025

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Sara Jama Date: 5/17/2025 5:17:00 PM Congratulations in placing in my contest. Your poem hits deeply. "No burning steel rod can cauterize my wounds I cannot anesthetize the festering gashes A sharp-bladed tongue bites much too deep, making my blood flow in repeated clashes," just brillant. Every line is fantastic but this stanza just hits different. Thank you for writing. Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 5/18/2025 8:37:00 AM Hi, Sara and I'm very grateful for my entry to have found a place on your winning list. That adage about a pen being a sword is too often true. Scars are always left behind.

Duke Beaufort Date: 5/9/2025 5:22:00 PM Lin, you've designed a contest entry that describes the severe pain someone could feel when targeted for attack by bullies or others who generally don't feel very good about themselves. They seem to be doing it for their own pleasure without regard for the effect. You ask why is it they targeted you. That's something these types need to ask themselves. This would be a good read for them. Of course, they might take more satisfaction for the damage they do. I love how you say that forgoing vengeance has set this victim free. We know the assembly of monsters will never be satisfied or experience any real joy. Sending you smiles, of course!! Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 5/9/2025 6:25:00 PM It's been done and if they take pleasure in it, the weight of shame is on them. I've built a suit of armor that doesn't weigh heavy on me. Jan pities them, and I use to, but their repeated performances have allayed that route. Forgiveness is always necessary... forgetting is not as easy. An assembly of monsters... now that's cause for consternation, but I can withstand whatever they throw. Duke, thank you for your comments and smiles.