P is for Pain

A is for Altars of a tear-drizzled culture

B is for B***h, your own childhood witch

C is for Caring but never really sharing

D is Divorce, the seven-year itch

E the Everlasting forever never lasts

F is Forgetting of aiding and abetting

G is for Growing but never really knowing

H is for Hurt, from a husband's begetting

I is for Ignorance kept by acceptance

J is for Joining temptation's sensation

K is for Killing, unknowingly willing

L is for Love, a despair from elation

M is for Mother makes best of the mess

N is for Nothing but a rain-soaked strain

O is the Other, someone else's lover

P is for Pain.

Q is for Questions and fragile conditions

R for Reply, the false why, the lie

S for Seclusion, the lost soul's solution

T is for Trying, and the night-time cry

U is Understanding the flaw in the planning

V is for Vows, disconnected conjecture

W for Woman, the wife wed to strife

X is the Ex-, the man of indenture

Y is for Yearning, a torch that's left burning

Z is for Zero, the knave born a hero

A is for Assistance, no more than subsistence

B is to Borrow, not beg, for tomorrow

C is the Children plant kisses on wishes

D is for Dying, the slow death of sorrow

E is Experience, your boy's only prudence

F is for Feelings survived of a healing

G is a Ghost given-up by the host

H is the Home you once painted, left peeling

I is the Innocent lost to the prurient

J is for Jaded, love careworn and faded

K is for Kindness, affectionless blindness

L is for Life left undone and un-traded

M is for Mother, tamed of your flame

N is for Nothing, a game without gain

O is the Other, but never a lover

P is for Pain.

Author's Note

Partly inspired by The Alphabet Song, sung by Sarah Miles in the film White Mischief (1987) and written by George Fenton.

Reviews

[APOORVA]

beautiful rhythm
what an awesome poem, a sweet one
but P is for pain, truly said...
those who ever been in love, can easily connect to it.
P is for pain...indeed !

[Urja Gokani]

nice rhyming amazingly written keep it up !!

[Devons]

I'll try. Thank you!

[thundershine]

Loveeeee the rhyming! Really good :)

[Devons]

Why thank you very much indeed, pretty lady. My skin warms with gratitude !

[Bear]

And I thought the ABC's of love was a cleaver song, this is fantastic each and every alphabetic line has a topic that is worthy of a poem in its self. You are going to make reviewing your work very difficult in that I am going to run out of ways to say how good they are without repeating myself and that shouldn't happen to a person of words like myself Ha! Ha!

[Devons]

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes when reviewing I have to stop and try to think of new words for the ones I keep repeating!
Thank you very much indeed for your positive words.

[Fran Marie]

Like the format used to illustrate the cycle of pain felt...
The q to z ..trying to figure it all out, the why's and how's
It became so hurtful in the first place..

neat piece of work here ..

[Devons]

Thanks, FM. I considered calling it D is Divorce but I liked the chosen title better.

[Fran Marie]

Yes, I can see how that D line stands out ..very powerful poignant line also..
Glad you went with P though...you're welcome..

[Devons]

I'm still in debate, since the poem is about divorce really...:)

[Beccy]

Aside from clear fact that a lot of thought went into this, every line rings crystal clear and true. Charts what is for many, (indeed most,) an eventful journey through life. Caring, loving, yearning, hurting, the gradual erosion of innocence, all are things that ever human being on this planet has experienced and can relate to.

So ably reflected in this poem is the fact that we are very complicated beings.

Beccy.

[Devons]

Thank you Beccy, very much. It means a lot that there are in fact people intelligent enough to show interest in other work than just their own. Gratitude.

[Ruth]

Fascinating structure, the repetition and only to P is hard hitting, the whirlpool of life contained in an alphabet...hard to breathe within it and tangible...good to read you today Devons :)

[Devons]

Sincerely gratifying to elicit your response. Thank you, PRS.

[Ruth]

My pleasure, enjoyed :)

[Rana]

This must've taken quite a lot of effort, what with that within-the-line rhyming pattern and the use of the alphabet so methodically and it has yet come out to be so effective. The various emotions can be marked and the tale has been narrated without revealing much but just enough and in a creative way too. The emphasis on P is for Pain itself speaks it all. A poignant and profound piece.

[Devons]

It's refreshing to have one's work reviewed in such a way. Sincerest thanks for such an intelligent and focussed appraisal.

[Terpsichore]

This is extremely good and I enjoyed the read. The construction is superb, and without overly egging the pudding, the frustration and despair one would experience in such situations comes across so very clearly. T

[Devons]

Thanks very much indeed for your appreciative and understanding appraisal. It is always -though it seldom occurs- gratifying when someone understands the meaning as well as the craft which constitutes a poem.