untitled short poem

Hello readers, welcome to OCpoetry. This subreddit is a writing workshop community -- a place where poets of all skill levels can share, enjoy, and talk about each other's poetry. Every person who's shared, including the OP above, has given some feedback (those are the links in the post) and hopes to receive some in return (from you, the readers).

If you really enjoyed this poem and just want to drop a quick comment, to show some appreciation or give kudos, things like "great job!" or "made me cry", or "loved it" or "so relateable", please do. Everyone loves a compliment. Thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy.

If you want to share your own poem, you'll need to give this writer some detailed feedback. Good feedback explains from your point of view what it was like to read the poem, and then tries to explain how the poem made you feel like that. If you're not sure what that means, check out our feedback guide, or look through the comment sections of any other post here, or click the links to the author's feedback above. If you're not sure whether your comments are feedback, or you have any other questions, please send us a modmail.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

This spoke to me. I identify very much with those days where I just feel empty, like the demons in my head have just eaten me up and there’s nothing left to get me out of bed.

I float lifelessly inside my predator.

Assigning the role of predator to my depression/anxiety isn’t something I’d given much thought to but I like how it ties into you being devoured by your pain and has given me something to ponder.

Also, on a brighter note, a simple hug really can work wonders sometimes. It’s true, we have to rely on ourselves and in the end it has to be us who conquers that predator, but we all need a hand sometimes too.

Thanks for sharing.

Indeed, if this is true then all you have to do is simply give yourself a hug. this will be enough to stop the bleeding and end the self defeating.. behavior that’s leading you into the belly of the beast. The pain you feel is merely wisdom knowledge and understanding rushing in to heal, the wounds of your checkered past. But it’s solely up to you how long this healing will last.

That last line:

"No one can save you but you"

holds a lot of truth. I think it's important for support for people to be there because you cannot save yourself without knowing/having the resources to save yourself. I think we hear a lot about how people can only help themselves. Although, I remember my mom telling me that we don't help people but we can help people by teaching people how to help themselves.

Good poem! Thank you for reminding me of what she said.

The word choice here really makes it work. submit. Devour. Predator. These words paint this reoccurring pain to be something that hunts you down relentlessly, and to the point where you just "submit" to it. That resonates with me. It's just the feeling of complete hopelessness and dread, allowing the predator to crawl in.

Then, you go into your desire for someone to hold you. But you understand that you know that this person you wish for will not undo the trauma/pain/mental illness just by being there. "Bleeding soul" in that part hit me, and it connects with the idea of the predator again. When something is caught by a predator, it bleeds. And your soul is the prey in this instance. With that in mind, you make it clear that allowing someone to simply lick your wounds won't really fix the problem, in your eyes. It requires action from yourself. You are the only one who will always be there for yourself, even on the worst days, and that's what I got from the end of your poem.

I liked it, thank you for sharing:)