|
Lovers Die In Gruesome Suicide Pact
by Ken HarnischTheir dismembered bodies lay
Against the rails
Their hands still joined
To mock
The only thing remaining of their lives
And who cared if she was the bright
Ambitious one, whose light,
Whose beauty, shone into the
Future with such fierceness
It lit the darkness for
A year
And who cared if he was
More the churlish sort
Whose menial work
And meaner brain had
Never quite figured out
How to join in some
Purpose larger than
Himself
She awed him,
But he commanded her;
And it was remarked upon
How faithfully she followed
In his long cold shadow
And how reverently
The light for him
Still shone in blinded eyes
Until the very end
He must have seen it:
The way she moved;
The effortless smile;
The way the young men flitted in
Her wake like moths.
And knowing his own crude fate
In a world even slimly fair
Decided for them both
The course of their soon
To be extinguished lives
And what madness is this?
That one so brilliant can be
Fetched into the darkness
To believe with all her soul
That the twisted shoelace
Icon tattooed on her lovers heart
Was somehow the destiny
Of an entire world
How else to explain her hand
Locked in his
Or the smile on his lips as her
Frightened soul saw it all
Too late, too late!
In the light of the roaring train 09/16/2004 Author's Note: After reading yet another headline like this, or a variation, a speculation as to cause...
Posted on 09/16/2004
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Rula Shin on 09/19/04 at 09:46 PM Oh how chilling...how extremely well written. The saddest of all and the most heartbreaking is, "Or the smile on his lips as her Frightened soul saw it all Too late, too late!" - for had she remained in her 'reality' our percieved 'delusion' of hers in that very last moment at least one could say she died for a cause that was her very own if not any other. I think this is an amazing write that captures the dark nature of circumstance and misguided emotion...brilliant.
|
| Posted by Laura Doom on 09/19/04 at 10:37 PM Some of the descriptive elements here remind me of 'Peculiar Fire'
Intricately woven unravelling of the 'pact' scenario - an invitation to care. |
| Posted by Kate Demeree on 09/20/04 at 04:56 PM So very well captured that it does indeed tug at the strings of hearts. One does wonder... The romantic still shines through in this poem my friend... Reminds me of some of Shakespeer's works |
| Posted by Michelle Angelini on 01/15/07 at 07:12 PM Ken, congratulations on POTD! So gruesome and yet so real. Kind of makes you wonder about some people and the partners they choose to be in love with. You write with such clarity, that I couldn't help but be taken in by the poem's story.
~Chelle~ |
| Posted by Laurie Blum on 01/15/07 at 07:29 PM I am so glad this piece was the Poem of the Day...otherwise I might have missed it in your vast library, it touched me deeply. You were able to convey their thoughts so acutely, I felt the despair that made them feel they had no other choice. Very emotional. |
| Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 01/15/07 at 07:39 PM Deeply sympathetic to the mystery of emotional connection, really quite beyond knowing in the mix of chemistry, upbringing, experience, idealism, insecurity... all even when examined in detail, part of the depths of unknowing in the psychological ocean where consciois and unconsious rise as a wave to meet us. A bold and intricate weaving of relationship and observation... in poetry that illustrates and enfolds us into the dark and light on the edge of existence. |
| Posted by Kristine Briese on 01/15/07 at 08:32 PM Riveting and truthful, heart-wrenching. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 01/16/07 at 12:01 AM Quite a chilling theme. Congrats on POTD! Already said by others, but you have really defined well how loyalty and misguided love can end tragically. The first lines of each stanza lead so well into each - this back and forth between the two and their perceptions and personal dilemmas. You have made them alive, and even though from the first I know they are dead, it is still a shock at the end of the poem that this could happen. Really fine writing. |
| Posted by Soulo Jacob Bourgeau on 01/16/07 at 12:08 AM Such a tragic tale told so well. The way the title appears ripped from my morning paper is very clever. Great PotD, Sir. |
| Posted by Traci Mabats on 01/16/07 at 12:08 AM yes, very well done. |
| Posted by Kate Demeree on 01/16/07 at 04:46 AM Congrats on POTD! I loved it the first time.... and this time was no different! |
| Posted by Christina Bruno on 07/01/08 at 10:36 PM this is very powerful and sad - beautiful ken |
| 
