Broken Pieces

Joe McLaughlin

Sifting through the rubble,
Of broken lives and loves.
Picking out fragmented pieces
And brushing off the dust.

Motivations never attempted,
Gestures that went unheard.
Beautiful thoughts never expressed,
Emotions that were never stirred.

Dreams that stayed as such,
Intentions of all things good.
Small pieces of inspiration,
And of longings to be understood.

A comprehensive variety,
Of moments never transpired.
Each piece a potential memory,
That is now forever retired.

About this poem

There is so much inside of us that is waiting to change the world yet so many never get to realize those capabilities. It always reminds me of a line from the original Dune movie. "The sleeper must awaken". This poem was originally written on August 1st, 2002 but had significant modifications before today's publication.

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Written on October 18, 2023

Submitted by JoseCanUC on October 18, 2023

: 26 sec read
: 133 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	XXXX XAXA XBXB CACX
Closest metre	Iambic tetrameter
Characters	477
Words	88
Stanzas	4
Stanza Lengths	4, 4, 4, 4

Full analysis for Broken Pieces »

Joe McLaughlin

Raised on a small farm outside of a small town in Texas, I was no stranger to work. It is this work ethic that has propelled my professional success but there is this other side of me. The side that deeply thinks about things. The side with an imagination and a desire to use my hands for more than just brute physical labor. more…

All Joe McLaughlin poems | Joe McLaughlin Books

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3 Comments

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Soulwriter
I really enjoyed reading this and it relates to us all. Thank you for sharing it with us
LikeReply5 months ago
karlcfolkes
Your four-stanza poem has a staccato disjunctive rhythm to it with each line of the poem expressed by the author mainly in the form of phrases rather than as sentences to convey an overall splintered thought imitative of and complementary to the poem’s core message of brokenness. Effectively done. more »
LikeReply 15 months ago
luisestable1
This is a good poems that tells why the first stanza is thus. The first stanza introduces, and the rest is why the first stanza is in the form it is.
Good read!
LikeReply 15 months ago

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"Broken Pieces" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/171558/broken-pieces>.

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