Lin Lane | + Follow Poet |
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My Heart, Felled as a Tree

Deprived of your love I become a will-o-the-wisp,
a ghostlike entity, whose illumination has faded
with the echoing of your final word, "Goodbye."
Not a daunting wisp of the shimmering kind,
nor one to haunt or harm. Feel no alarm from me
for I am no longer whole, the woman I used to be.

Without your hand to hold, your lips to kiss, 
your arms enfolding me close to your chest,
there would be no love to quell my need.
Desire would wither like a forsaken seed.
Felled, would be my heart as if it were a tree.
The brokenness of me would be conceded,
left alone to live with yearning and in misery.

My heart would die a little each day,
without hope of being resurrected.
Its beat would slow, severely impeded.
I would live in a grayling world on my own
where Winter winds would chill my bones.
I would stand on the edge of a frozen lake
contemplating inching my way to the middle,
knowing water flows there, swiftly to the sea.
A break in the ice would end my heartache
as I ride on the current like a felled tree.

Copyright © Lin Lane | Year Posted 2025

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Crystol Woods Date: 6/7/2025 3:31:00 PM The controversial subjects in your poem are touched so gently, reverently. Lost love unfortunately can bring us to the edge as say. Xo Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 6/7/2025 4:21:00 PM Thank you very much, Crystol. I wrote it so long ago that I forgot I still has a poem in a contest. I quit writing for all of them with the invasion of AI... including one that topped us.

Ink Empress Date: 4/28/2025 3:55:00 AM Dear Linnersz, This is such a poignant poem that depicts heartache and longing in the most creative and poetic manner, the flow of your lines here truly stands out for me as well as your use of metaphors and similes , are so soul hitting, i felt especially "Felled, would be my heart as if it were a tree. The brokenness of me would be conceded, left alone to live with yearning and in misery." How honest and moving, the depth of emotions woven here truly is praiseworthy! Best wishes. Sending you light always Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/28/2025 4:40:00 AM "Honest.." Ink, that's the exact emotion I was trying to convey. Those feelings of emptiness are tantamount to dying as that felled tree. Thanks for your kindest of comments, as always.

Duke Beaufort Date: 4/27/2025 7:19:00 PM Lin, I see the last line gives some hope...at least you're headed somewhere at the poem's end. You do know pain and have a gift for being able to share it so vividly and with such expression of pain that we know how this can hurt. I also like your comment to Tom....we do need some pleasure along with our exploration of a felled heart! Take care!! Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/28/2025 4:38:00 AM You see positive in the ending where my character saw it ending in the worst negative scenario possible. That's a perfect example of interpretation, or maybe it's just my attitude that needs adjusting. lol Thank you for the read and your thoughts, Duke.

Frederic Parker Date: 4/27/2025 7:17:00 PM the pain felt when heartbroken is a moment that lasts across time, it is despair at its deepest and loneliness without answers...my first thoughts after reading your poem Lin...good luck in the contest Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/28/2025 4:35:00 AM Across time that never helps it heal. Your thoughts mirrored my own when writing these lines. Thank you, Frederic.

Paula Goldsmith Date: 4/27/2025 11:27:00 AM What a Lovely yet sad write you have here. I enjoyed reading this. Love can be magical or a nightmare. Love your ending... "Good Luck" Have a wonderful spring day......... Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/27/2025 12:03:00 PM It certainly can be both, Paula. Thanks for another visit with me.

Tom Cunningham Date: 4/27/2025 10:31:00 AM Nothing more heartbreaking than a love lost, the pain of it lingers for what seems an eternity. Good luck in the contest Lin. Tom Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/27/2025 12:02:00 PM It does, Tom. Thanks, and if you have an in with contest sponsors can you drop a hint that maybe something with more of a happy theme might be in order?

Sotto Poet Date: 4/27/2025 9:50:00 AM Lin, your exquisite poem digs into the amazing psychological agony and spiritual vacuum that comes with losing a loved one. It tackles the metamorphosis of the self in the lack of love, depicting a fight with longing, despair, and the need for relief from grief. Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/27/2025 12:01:00 PM Thanks so much, Lasaad. There's a barren emptiness when such a love is lost... for any reason.