‘There, We’re Whispers‘ is the first poem I wrote in the ‘Autumn, That Bastard’ poetry collection. Originally titled “There Were Whispers” I revamped and remodelled it to focus on place rather than time. With that said, this type of poem I am more interested in what my readers perceive of it. I have mentioned ‘death of the author’ before, but this poem well and truly is a representation of that in the sense that I do not want to cast an image of what I think it is about.
Wooden Walls
Grey Jungle
Their doorstep
Humble Abode
Descriptions of place within the poem
Something really interesting I found is talking about why I changed the title so last minute. So ‘There Were Whispers’ focuses on time and ‘There, We’re Whispers’ focuses on place and individuals. Throughout the poem I refer to various places, but ‘humble abode’ denotes feelings of kinship and a homey feeling that has caused problems for the voice.
What are these problems though?
No, it is not that cold snap,
Rhyming Example
Nor is it that summer’s shimmer,
The houses left tender – just a whisper.
In howls of the past; here they entrap.
If you notice, the poem rhymes, stops in a peculiar place, keeps going and then ends without a rhyme. This is to symbolise rhythm with life once a previous assumption/pleasure is challenged. That we stop to think about it, try to move on with our lives but the activity/thing becomes irreparable moving forward.
Moving onto the last stanza, I want to talk about how it completely changed and how that affects the final meaning. Originally, it was meant to be:
There were whispers
and I was afraid.
Pre-production Last Stanza
Other than being a total rip-off ‘The Walking Dead’ comic issue, it felt like it did not serve the rest of the poem. Being afraid is only apparent if you make a few leaps and jumps over rivers of confusion in the poem. Being shameful is relevant with people asking who he is, the ‘spitting lights’ which casts imagery of him being lesser, the contrast with being salvation but also being Satan…
There, we’re whispers
And I followed that shame.
Published Last stanza
But as I say, I am a big fan of what people think! Do let me know what you think in the comments, social media, or even emails!
Thank you to everyone so far who has given comments and their thoughts on my writing! It has been a blast to read!
Christos Floratos 