Shards - A Shattered Symphony

Shards (A Shattered Symphony)

I’m familiar with the ringing—
a metallic tinnitus, persistent as shadow,
its monotonous hymn stabbing through synapses,
a tone eternal, bending but never breaking.

But now—what fresh dissonance disrupts me?
A low clinking, like secrets whispered between broken teeth,
a conspiracy of champagne flutes meeting demise,
shards spiraling in the air,
falling in slow motion,
a glass ballet ending in jagged caterwauling.

This psychotic symphony—
slender sounds, slicing soft silences—
pierces my psyche with surgical precision,
a needle threading unease through eardrums,
weaving a discordant dirge.

How do I stop the clinking?
The shards that aren’t shards,
but echoes refracted in the vault of my skull?
Their splintered edges carve silence into screams,
fracturing peace into pieces.

And I sit, still,
within the echoes of my mind,
trying to decipher the score
of a sinister song that never ceases.

Literary Description

"Shards" is a visceral free-verse poem, capturing the torment of auditory hallucinations or the unrelenting noise of intrusive thoughts. The poem employs vivid, sharp imagery—broken glass, ringing tones, and slicing silences—to immerse the reader in the protagonist's mental turmoil. The use of enjambment reflects the unstoppable flow of these auditory interruptions, while the occasional alliteration with "S" and "Psy" evokes a sinister, serpentine quality, amplifying the sense of unease. This piece masterfully blends raw emotion with a gritty, questioning tone, creating a palpable tension between sound and silence.

Poem Explanation

The poem explores the inner chaos caused by intrusive sounds, likened to shards of glass cutting through mental tranquility. The ringing serves as a metaphor for constant, unrelenting discomfort, while the breaking glass represents a sudden, violent intrusion into an already unstable mindscape. The poem raises unanswerable questions about the origins and cessation of this torment, capturing the helplessness of living with such an affliction. The repetition of sharp sounds and disjointed phrases mirrors the overwhelming and inescapable nature of the auditory experience.

Emotional Interpretation

"Shards" evokes a profound sense of frustration, helplessness, and discomfort. The imagery of broken glass and relentless ringing conveys the fragility of the speaker's peace, while the questioning tone suggests a desperate search for understanding or relief. The poem's relentless flow mirrors the speaker's inability to escape the auditory chaos, inviting the reader to experience their psychological anguish. Despite the beauty of its language, the piece feels raw and unnerving, forcing the audience to confront the darker aspects of the human psyche.

Tags

torment, dissonance, silence, shards, ringing, anguish, psychosis, fragility, chaos, unease, aitools, gimp