Quell

For all the people who commit suicide.

Suddenly, the sound is gone.

Last among the hopeless hearts

whose beats are silenced.

Life, strangled from them

society wonders why,

were there any signs?

Sadly, there were many

strangled calls for help

hidden in plain view.

Author's Note

I don't know, something I wrote a couple weeks ago, but just decided to review it and put it up here. quell: to suppress; put an end to; extinguish

Reviews

[TLK]

Quell is also a game on my iPad. Coincidence?*

You opening triplet is coy -- re-reading it gives it the beauty of unfolded mystery, even though you give the game away somewhat in your description.
The second triple is mundane. From here, you could say almost anything. Most likely would be something along the lines of "even though they had hardships, why did they take the coward's way out?"
But the third triplet takes a hammer blow to society with the mildness of a feather. It is quite a thing to behold how you shield the dagger with your cape. Without being damning or vitriolic, I am left clear that society has asked its question too late.

This is exactly when the first triplet becomes so powerful. I think that this poem shows more than good word choice, structure, rhythm etc.: the way that you organise your 'units of meaning' indicates a keen insight into how a reader will process your words and you lead them on with the weight of their likely expectations.

I am almost surprised you're not majoring in Psych, however I know very well that History and English involve thinking about the Psychology of us doddering humans.



*Yes.

[Harrisen Viator]

I'm glad that you find this poem so profound. You're saying that it shows what I was trying to emphasize, and this was in response to how suicide is one of the highest rates of teen death in America and across the world. That statistic saddens me, because there are so many ways that we could help, but no one seems to want to go big to do something about it. It's kind of a taboo to talk about, because it isn't a major topic of discussion.
And I was considering psych, but I decided I enjoy History and English so much more after I took Gen Psych this semester.
Thank you for your honest review.
-Harrisen