Analyze and interpret?

I wrote this when I was 14 or 15 (Use your imagination). I'm just curious to know what people think it means, or what it means to them. Please no rude or stupid comments, I'd rather you not waste my time.





Substituted by a rock

This flower is laid to rest

Slowly losing petals

Worn, torn, dry, and crumb

Trampled by a bear

This rock is chipping too

Analyze and interpret?
Nouns : rock, flower, petals, crumb, bear, rock.

Verbs : substituted, laid, rest, losing, trampled, chipping.

Adjectives : by, slowly, worn, torn, dry, (crumble).





The usage of object nouns rather than proper or place nouns, indicates a subject identifying with objects. Utilizing projection, identification with objects, to imbue banal, non-subjects, with subjectivity. The word, This, likely describes objects that the author identifies with, which in the case of the poem are a flower and a rock.



Perhaps the subject authoring the poem, seeks to offset a lack of subjectivity in their selves, which would certainly not be uncommon to a subject, specifically a 14 or 15 year old, whose subjectivity is in a state of limbo due to their place in society.



It could also suggest a subject investigating language's capacity to denote subjectivity and connote subjecthood. Simply put, the way one thinks of themselves through language influencing the way one looks at objects; and the way one perceives objects influencing the way one thinks of themselves.



The tone of the poem denotes a sense of loss, entropy, affliction, which is interacts interestingly with the concluding line, "This rock is chipping too".



First, the rock is defined briefly as a usurper of sorts, taking the place of a flower, whose state of being is defined in the body of the poem with much more detail than the state of the rock.



Perhaps it is the perceived life and death of the flower, which would repeat often throughout the course of a human life, which makes it a source of projection on living and dying.



The lifecycle of a rock however, is not something a person would see from a seed to decaying matter, making the rock somewhat alien to the feelings of life and death, which in the case of a flower would appear via a humans eyes as a microcosm of their own mortality.



Perhaps then the rock is like language, something that came before and with endure after the subject's life. The state of the flower, an object which is expressed as existing after the fact, like a flower cut from the plant, reflects the way human subjects perceive themselves in relation to language, the world, the Symbolic... as something that existed fully at some point in the distant past and now only exists in a state of decay, moving further and further away from a moment of perfect subjecthood, which can never be retrieved.



"This rock is chipping too", perhaps implies a sense that even those objects which are perceived as being whole, permanent, enduring, etc., such as a rock, or language, or the world, can be affected too. Appearing as the last line, this sense could offset the mood in the body of the poem, which describes death, dying, entropy, via a sense of retaliation. Another read could be that one, even though now as hard and cold as a rock, still can be chipped away at.



The choice of "chipping" is extremely interesting with its signification of loud, bright sound, paired with its use in illustrating a scene of decay.



I have to admit, I responded to your post largely due to the image of a rock making a bird sound. Especially, in lieu of the mood in the body of the poem.



I should also note that the mood of the poem, reflected my own writings from that time in my life. The mood is clearly depressing, and it reads as a melancholic observation on life, which was an interesting read itself, the additional mental image of a chipping rock made it all the more interesting.



8)
Reply:Lost innocence
Reply:Sounds like a broken heart to me. Tender at first and then hardened by a clumsy or mean beast and now, even the rock is taking a weathering.



And I hope I am wrong, 14 is an awfully young age to have such a powerful lesson. Although some people are wise light years beyond their age. Peace.
Reply:Nothing lasts forever.
Reply:Wow...is the bear your dad or a boyfriend? I'm guessing flower is love. I used to use a flower as a symbol of love. A rock is the hardness that follows after a love is broken. LIke having a chip on your shoulder after something bad happens to you.
Reply:Everything is interconnected, subject to follow Cause and Effect order in space/time continuum. In timeless realm all described poetically would happen at once, probably many more... you was quite deep in your 14-15....Rebecca
Reply:It seems to me as if you were heartbroken, and/or felt betrayed by someone you loved or by life itself.

The flower could be seen as your capacity to trust in people and love, and the "rock that substituted it" could be seen as you hardening yourself and closing yourself to the world because you were hurt and betrayed.



I'm no psychologist, though.

What I do know is that it's an amazingly deep, sad and beautiful poem, specially for a 15 year old. And it certainly does seem like the words of a young girl that had to grow up fast to the harshness of adult life.

I hope your life is better now, from your smart questions, you do seem like a very intelligent and well-adjusted lady.
Reply:Brought tears to my eyes. Sounds so sad like you lost yourself.
Reply:Rebecca,



To me, it reflects and incredible

mature, young 15 year old.

You caught the 'essence' of

yourself at what appeared to

be a troubled time, and you

caught it quite beautifully.

Essence is one of the single

most difficult things to capture

when writing...



As well, the fact that you can go

back now at 29 yrs old, read it,

and have no resentments shows

once again, a very bright, mature,

strong young woman.



Don't stop writing, you're a natural.

Kudos to you, my friend!
Reply:I would say that the flower and the rock both represent your heart. The flower was traded in for the much more durable rock when circumstances became unbearable for the gentle you. You soon found out, however, that hardness has its' own set of vulnerabilities. Once we reach adulthood, we learn to use many states for our heart; very soft and vulnerable for those we love, and the little and weak ones, and very tough and resiliant for those that might intend us harm.



I hope you kept that flower around. It sounds like you have alot to offer for others that might be hurting.
Reply:Rejection, loss, death and perhaps recycling.
Reply:I'm not too sure..But this could be about a lost love or something that has been taken away from a young girl. Someone who's been in love and cared too much about a person who didn't have the heart or just put that girl into too much pain. Hehe..I really dunno...