Hopelessly Devoted | Teen Ink

Hopelessly Devoted

March 3, 2013
By nocontrol BRONZE, West Hartford, Connecticut
nocontrol BRONZE, West Hartford, Connecticut
3 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you, Hazel Grace." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars


My eyes are like dust now;
specks of the earth,
weeping and wailing for a savior.

I want
I need
I crave you.

Still.

But I shouldn't, and I can't.
Never again.

Never again will I let you steal my attention,
take my focus from my own life.

Never again will I care more about someone else's perception of me than my own.

Why do you do this? You break my heart into a million shattered pieces; just by being.

And in a few years I won't remember your name and this will become nothing more than a trivial, unimportant, silly story I'll tell my granddaughter one day but I'm still scared and I can't stop thinking.

But I'm done.

But I'm not.

But I should be.


The author's comments:
Relatively embarrassed to submit this, as it feels very personal. Not very subtle, but it reflects the internal struggle I've been going back and forth with for the past couple weeks.

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on Mar. 14 2013 at 11:18 am
nocontrol BRONZE, West Hartford, Connecticut
3 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you, Hazel Grace." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Hmmmm... Is hopeless devotion nothing more than misplaced obsession? I think this poem captures the struggle between devotion to another and selfishness. Isn't devotion a form of selfishness? Don't we only devote ourselves to another for personal gain? I think you capture this with ideas like "a story for my grandaughter" and in the anger the speaker feels, presumably at not having her selfish needs satiated. Of course, as you explore, devotion is a need we can't necessarily turn off or stop. We need the rewards/returns of our devotion. We need to attach ourselves to others to define ourselves. I would like to see you incorporate more indirect ways of expressing the angst the speaker feels...metaphor, simile, symbol. Some of this is a little direct at time...diary entry style poetry (to be slightly critical). These are powerful feelings you explore here, ones we all feel when realizing the efforts of our devotion are wasted or unrequited. I like how this could apply to a love interest, a deity, a role model, etc. I think reading this as a disilliusioned worshipper's rant against an unrequiting deity makes for an interesting read. Posted by the poet's friend while logged on to her account.