Shelter in place
The world on hold places me in the hands of my executer. A shelter that leaves me more exposed then I’ve ever been. A pause for everyone else a certain end for me
Like a heart trapped in the body
I sit restlessly in the house still beating still breathing but relentlessly living
every move a contraction of muscles
no spirit no mind just a heart trapped in a body
For every beat they strike blood
And with every beat comes breaths
Oxygen leaving the body
Relieving the heart momentarily of the pressure of surviving just to yet again prepare to bear another beat
Another strike to the chest
Another slight breath
And slowly but surely the blood flows out of the heart and out of the body the only thing allowed to leave the shelter of skin
The walls that protect me trap me and the blood that fuels me leaves me
and the heart that is suppose to exude love exudes pain
The chest tightens
The walls close in
The strikes are to much, to many
The world on pause but my nightmare on play
the cavity in which I sit remains dark and the beats loud. A shelter they say but anguish is all that echos through these walls.
Slowly The strength it takes to rise and fall is to much and the lub is to hard
Reluctantly left bloodless breathless and just a heart in a cavity and a victim in a prison
About this poem
This is a poem about the rising numbers of domestic abuse cases after the shelter in place orders for Covid 19 went in place. A shelter for some was a hell for others.
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Written on February 02, 2023
Submitted by 12kplewis on February 02, 2023
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABCADEAFGHIAJKIALMNO |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,303 |
Words | 263 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
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"Shelter in place" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/153475/shelter-in-place>.
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