When Words Bleed

Inspired

not since those final words
in Chidiock Tichborne’s elegy
read so many moons ago
a traitor or a martyr
take your pick

penned prior to his youthful demise
have these eyes of mine
suffered so
a water well busted by a hit

let me tell you this
tears dripped unrestrained
a poem penetrated tissue
of resistant pain

words pierced chamber walls
to make their mark

a poem adrift from all others
writ
touched every fibre of a would
be poet’s heart

Reviews

[M]

Like John below, I am not familiar with Chidiock Tichborne, so will need to do some reading on him soon. It’s evident from your own words in this poem that he is a poet who has struck an emotional chord within you. I find it difficult to hit emotional chords in poetry, particularly when one does not feel anything seriously emotional to put into words. We have all suffered in various ways in our lives and I think we do develop some ‘emotional immunity’ as a result of our suffering. Something to work towards, I guess. Your poem is empathetic to his cause and appreciative of his talent. Will read him soon.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Makhabat. This writer certainly struck a chord. His elegy well worth a look. Written at age 23 and shortly before his execution.

Chris

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Chris, for increasing my fund of knowledge. I had never heard of Tichborne before reading your poem. The result was I read "Elegy" and I can see why you found it so moving. He died a ghastly death. Maybe poets should stay away from politics.

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks John and especially for checking his elegy out. Whether he was traitor or martyr is of no matter to me. What is, is that ability to connect by poetry which has lasted hundreds of years. The poem I found in a book called A hundred poems that make grown men cry. Yep, it’s a tear jerker.

Chris

[Matthew Kult]

Excellently written. Brilliant read.

It's a special write to inspire such a wonderful poem.

With love,

Matthew

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Matthew for your kind and generous review. You are appreciated.

Peace and love

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

Wow Chris, this is so emotional, so honest, so pitiful in sense that you should suffer so much; obviously this person had an immense negative impact on you ....not only on your life, but deep inside your heart and gut....and it seems that it is viticulture to let go of his words....even though much time ha passed....."words pierced chamber wall"... that is a very strong and dejected phrase.....his poem has hit hard.... "and touched every fiber of would be poet's heart"....
Warmly, B

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks dear Betty. Just words but they can impact greatly. I appreciate you stopping by, Have a great Sunday.

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

You're very welcome dear Chris; hope you had a fine weekend !
Warmly, B

[Kim S.]

I sense the emotion in this write, very nicely written

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much for stopping by basic writer. Pleased to have you visit.

Chris

[Lisasview]

Hi there... Yes, it is me... finally have a slice of time to actually review a few here and there... So strange but I really was not okay for quite some time... Now I am way better... and able to review and write.
This is such an interesting poem and I can see why he is an inspiration...
Also, fabulous Title..love it.
Hugs to you,
Lisa

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks Lisa for stopping by. Sounds as though you have had a rough time. Pleased to hear things are getting better. I had covid which hung around for five weeks which I could have done without. Check out Tichborne’s elegy if you have time. He write it at age 23 prior to his execution.

Chris

[Neville]

............... I am not in the least surprised Chris .. very moving .. Neville

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Neville. He moved me too with his writing. Have a good Sunday.

Chris
read moreThank you Neville. He moved me too with his writing. Have a good Sunday.

Chris

[Neville]

................................................. 💜

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I remember a song by Alice Cooper called "only women bleed"----not true...men do as well....we bleed words as poets...inspiration is the cut that causes it.

[Chris Shaw]

So true. Men bleed too and I can recognize a man that bleeds genuine ink as well as tears. There are a lot of imposters about. Inspiration is everything to a poet. I don’t know the Alice Coooer song. Thank you for coming back and making a second comment. You rarely do that, so I appreciate that especially dear J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Words bleed as if executed...You made me look him up and I read the elegy poems.
Quite the poet he was. And there are strong arguments on both sides as to what he was...traitor or martyr...almost like tossing a coin...but we cannot toss away his talent for writing poetry, and certainly cannot toss away yours, Chris.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you J. Pleased you looked him up. This is the second poem I have written about him. He may have lived only 23 years, but I read him now hundreds of years later. Whether traitor or martyr, it is the poet in him that makes his mark. His elegy is in a book of 100 poems that make grown men cry. It wrecked me the first time I read it. That was the maternal coming out in me. He was the only son with a bunch of sisters. The family must have been completely devastated by his demise. The poem haunted me, until I wrote my own a couple of years back.

Chris