Invisible Strings - 39. "Grief Observatory" by Topaz Winters

"Grief Observatory" by Topaz Winters

There's a section of the poem that is reminding me of something, but I just can't quite put my finger on it:

[...] The last time, four months off of

medication in the city I swore would save me, I screamed

at you in the kitchen WE CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS

IF WE KEEP DOING THIS WHEN IT IS OVER

WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP & you put out

your hands to calm the caged animal of my body

It might be "The Black Dog" - "How my rain-soaked body was shaking ... Old habits die screaming." Or maybe "You're Losing Me" - "How long could we be a sad song? / Til we were too far gone to bring back to life." I also think "Is It Over Now?" might be a match based on the above, but I don't think it responds to the poem as a whole.

Since there are two instances of a lake being mentioned in the poem, and the tone of both the poem and the song seem to complement each other, I think "the lakes" may be the one. "On the walk to work I pass the crowd / of people who go to the lake to be alone" and "I've never seen the lake they chose over my love / but with all that talk I have to believe it's beautiful." As far as a response, it does seem like the narrators are in conversation with each other. The narrator of the song explains why she has to go to the lakes, and the narrator of the poem is at home, wondering why her friends left her for the lake.

It's been so interesting to see how the poets respond. I especially like instances like this one, where it seems like the poet is in conversation with, and actually talking to the person narrating the song. There have been others that take one small section of a song and create an entirely different idea with it, and those that create a new piece of art with the outline of the lyrics as a guide. I really love seeing all the different, creative ways that these poems developed.