Thank you - yes, you caught it! Emptiness always leaves the possibility of being full. No matter how unlikely or improbable.

Thank you for sharing! Your work is beautiful. I love the imagery of small hurts growing with time. Associating physical damage of cartilage with the tole of emotional/physiological harm was beautifully done. Just as cartilage wears away with time and use, the more you put yourself out in the world the more you expose yourself to risks, for better or worse. 

I’m not sure if this was your intention, but I felt hope in this poem. Feeling hollowed out is a horrible horrible experience, but all the same it leaves you space to fill. Hopefully with something you love. Cartilage wears away, but tired knees speak of a full life. We may never be full, but perhaps we weren’t made to be.

 Again, thank you for sharing your work and I greatly enjoyed reading!

Wow. What a way to show insecurities and self doubt. I just wanted to cry but yet so empty just like you described!

Respond by writing more 😃 and keep being awesome Meep please, thx!  
-jason

Jason!!! 
How could I respond to this??? Overwhelmed.

Thank you. You are entirely too generous in your complements and the time you take to explore my words. 

It always gathers me, how works reveal the self. I put the feeling down, call it done, and carry on. 

It is not completely intentional, what the reader sees. And it gets me every single time.

Ah Meep. Such good writing as usual and always written in a purposeful manner; there doesn't seem to be a lot of accidents in your poems. They remind me of Agatha Christie books or something where I always have to find the real start of the thread.

In this case, I found a reasonable place in the middle, or close to it:

Was I ever whole?

Tells us a lot. Tells us the author feels empty, and has felt this way for a long while. Tells us even looking back, to even childhood, they felt something missing - or, more appropriately perhaps, taken from them.

This question is indeed answered and expounded upon:

Half way, quarter way, almost  
Almost but never quite there.

Then a sad biography:

Fissures, cracks, and pinholes  
Widen as the years go by

Then we come to the final metaphor- everyone has jumped on this and truly, it is a hell of a way to end this:

Wearing away  
Like the cartridge  
within the knee.

Here's what I mean, here's a prime example of what I mean when I say you need 

Oh pardon me, it is from his poem "Romance" - https://www.eapoe.org/works/poems/romancec.html
Looking closely into "Romance", i find there might be some more parallels to your work... 
But it could also be just my personal inclination to Poe's dark mysterious romance and sorrow..!

Very interesting connection. I loved Poe as a kid. I have to do some digging and read the work you pulled that quote from. 

Yes. A functional relationship is a positive way to put it. 

Thank you so much for reading.

Your poem definitely hits home.. It ultimately reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's line "Being young and full of folly I fell in love with melancholy." 
It feels like a functional companionship with melancholy -   
like a dance.. Wherein sorrow might be uninvited, but it is kindly welcomed, because it is a.. well a true guide. Like a skilled dancer - it leads and predicts your movement..
Sometimes you just need to read some words, to voice your own struggles, you know... 
And your poem sure did that for me!

Very interesting,  you are definitely on the right track here. Nice.

Halfway full is better then halfway empty"mindset wise"


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](https://new.reddit.com/r/ocpoetry/wiki/feedbackcritiques), or look 

Very interesting point about line length. It makes sense.

Good to know! Thank you for the suggestion; I tend to stay away from rhyme (I don’t think I could pull it off in an elegant way). 

Thank you for your critique. I’m here to grow and improve!

Great intent. Your ideas come out well and it's relatable. Just the meter and rhyme needs a bit of work. Don't shy away from longer lines. You don't have to keep each verse ultra short.  Although I know your ideas have continuity, the reader unintentionally looks for new ideas in every line.

Perhaps,

if all the tears fell out,

there would be nothing left to give. 


Everything inside on the outside

ready to receive 

and be filled all over.

If I look deeply,

maybe I can find enough 

good things to feel whole.

Was I ever whole? 


Half full, quarter way, almost.

Almost but never quite there.


Fissures, cracks, and pinholes 

widen as the years go by

wearing away 

like the cartilage 

within the knee.

————————————

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