Shattered (2023)


Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Shattered Heart” by: rob kistner © 11/28/23

 

H e shattered her heart
spilled her wine of joy

then drank deep
the red red warm
no concern
he’d brought their love
to harm

he toasted every moment
whether great
or whether small
as if he triumphed
in his betrayal
he celebrated all

the crystal clanked
as it sang the pours
swirling bottom to the top
a captured cyclone
of canted pleasure
pouring would never stop

goblet and stemware
filled full measure
with this ruby
liquid treasure

he tasted
he drank
he danced
seeking love
his heart was empty

still so
her heart
was shattered
given time
so too would his be

rejecting honest words
he only wanted
to be flattered
he never learned
that trust and truth
are the things in life
that truly mattered

he sang sweet songs
to the nurtured grape
tried filling the years
with laughter


Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Let It Flow”
by: rob kistner © 11/28/23

but all he harvested
were bitter tears
he’d not realized
what might come after

with their vintage love
now crushed and broken
he’d driven her
from their home

love’s bitter words
were cruelly spoken
so now he pours alone

the harmony to his song
went mute
now no one sings along

betraying love’s a ruthless study
with great pain he finally learned
now the presses all are broken
the barrels overturned

the corks are dry and brittle
strewn across the floors
the wine has spilled and puddled
now sadly no one pours

his heart broken
now bleeds burgundy
and mixes with his tears
the blessed nectar of the vine
has not been poured
for many years



Original DDE™ surrealistic diptych: “Winehouse Chaos”
by: rob kistner © 11/28/23

*
rob kistner © 2021
expanded revision © 11/28/23

Poetry at: d’Verse

 




62 thoughts on “Shattered (2023)”

  1. “a captured scarlet cyclone” … I love that. Also “and filled the years to vintage” and the last stanza. Beautiful, tragic piece.

  2. Yes, masterfully done, Rob. Reminded me how fortunate I am, still sharing being able to raise a glass (or whatever) with My Beloved Sandra. Your piece is deeply moving. Thanks.

  3. Rob, this is a beauty of a poem – I can feel the grief. Such lovely lines: “the harmony of my song went mute”…….the tears, and nectar not poured for years. I really feel this poem.

  4. “we sang sweet songs
    to the nurtured grape
    and filled the years to vintage”

    The state we all crave. But life is full of surprises, lesson learnt.

    Happy Sunday

    Much????love

  5. My relations lost lost young sons in five families – my wife’s nephew, my sisters’s son, my brother, my youngest cousin, another cousin’s son – those losses become the vintage now, a shared grief. Sorry for your loss. A fine elegy here and thanks for sharing it at earthweal.

    1. It was for me Brendan, a poem gifted from a place within. I began it as a conscious construct, but it became a very genuine experience as I wrote. I discovered, upon completing it, that it speaks to mr on several levels personally. A number of pieces ov my life in it. It is meaningful to me.

    1. This one came from a place within as a poem writing itself Joel. The writing of it was a moving experience for me. I reread it now on multiple levels of meaning in my life.

  6. A song that carries such richness and sadness too. Wonderful lines in here – I especially love: ‘a captured scarlet cyclone/
    of corked and canted pleasure/ this liquid ruby treasure.’

  7. Mrs. Jim and I have red valentine hearts on the sides of our glasses.
    “my broken heart bleeds burgundy”
    A teetotaler I’ve become.
    Been there, done that for three years, then Mrs. Jim#2 came to rescue me.
    ..

  8. To drink of life and to finally find the glass empty. I love the storytelling of this. That it isn’t just a broken glass, but a broken press and overturned barrels. Even if you wanted more wine to drink there isn’t any left to be found.

    1. Thank you Graham. Yes, I agree with you, this piece could be fashioned well into a song. I have written many lyrics in my life, so I guess that influence hangs in my subconscious.

  9. What a sad story of a shattered heart, Rob, and what a cruel man, spilling his loved one’s ‘wine of joy’. I’m glad he got his just desserts and I love the sounds in:
    ‘the crystal clanked
    as it sang the pours
    swirling bottom to the top
    a captured cyclone
    of canted pleasure
    pouring would never stop’.

  10. “the crystal clanked
    as it sang the pours
    swirling bottom to the top
    a captured cyclone
    of canted pleasure
    pouring would never stop”

    Even the wine eventually dries up. Excellent poem, Rob!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *