A PALETTE OF SCARS AND LOVE

1/5/2023

By Maryam Shuaib

Why can't I run from you and escape this four-walled cage of torture?
You keep me locked up, caught in this twisted, demented version of your love.
You've taken my body as a palette to paint, taint and mask with bruises and scars.

Sometimes I wish it wouldn't be beyond that; still,
You've managed to drag my heart & soul into it so they reflect whatever scars I carry,
Yet every time, you say you love me.

Writer's Biography

Maryam Shuaib fell in love with reading at a tender age, from the stories in her English textbooks to stories published in the Weekly Trust newspaper. She found her love for writing as a teenager when her father gifted her a journal. So when she's not reading, you'll find her immersed in Kdramas or trying to put the voices of the characters she's yet to bring to life to sleep.

9 Comments

Priscilla Ajayi link

1/5/2023 11:16:36 pm

The tone of the writer is sad. The central idea of the poem is painful love. The poem talks about someone who finds it to get over his/her lover. Meanwhile, this said lover had in some ways made the other party (the writer) feel extremely hurt and disappointed.

The poem is sad but beautiful!

Abamba Peace

14/5/2023 12:14:55 pm

In this poem, the poet bares her heart on the twisted kind of love she is trapped in.

It is a cry filled with pain and sadness. In this kind of love, one wills to leave but doesn't find the strength to.

Saliu Waliyat Ayomiotan

15/5/2023 01:01:50 pm

This poem captures the reality of abused women all over the world, trapped in a "four-walled cage of torture" which they can't escape from.

The writer portrays the helplessness of a particular woman who suffers both physical and emotional abuse. Not only her body reflects the scars she carries but also her heart and soul.

The words "taken" and "drag" shows how utterly helpless she is when confronted with her abuser, as he simply took her body / dragged her heart and soul.

It's a wonderful piece.❤️

Safiyya Ismail

18/5/2023 07:47:55 am

This writer has beautifully expressed what some lovers go through. Being abuse in a relationship and not having the strength to leave is a bad experience.

Okuwhere Simon

19/5/2023 11:13:44 pm

This poem depicts love with pains. Love that causes pain, love that imprisons the Heart, love though creative with color.

Amaraeze Onyinyechi link

24/5/2023 09:41:18 am

This writer has taken the pain felt from the abuse of a supposed lover, the anguish felt as the cold words - "I love you" - descends on her to cover up the physical abuse, she took every pent up emotion and transformed them into words. The poem depicts longing, suffering and helplessness. Beautiful yet sorrowful.

Patience Atanyi link

28/5/2023 07:48:15 am

Love brings you flowers and builds you coffin. Lol, I love it, relatable, concise and apt.

Wisdom Adediji

28/5/2023 08:22:32 am

Wow! This is such a simple piece of writing. The writer writes succinctly.

Although, this piece gently screams the persona's pains and curiosity, yet the poem's direct imagery creates a smoothe understanding for readers.

Line 3: “You've taken my body as a palette to paint, taint and mask with bruises and scars.”

This line explains it all. This is a sort of lovelorn scenario.

Moreover, I feel there a some lines that still carries rawness and evoke less emotions than it would do if crafted well. For instance, you may also express the first line as--

“Why have I stilled here like a petrified lot dwindling in this four-walled torture room of yours?"

Anastasia Obigaju

31/5/2023 11:54:31 am

I love that this piece, though short was able to pass the message across.
It potrays the feelings of someone in an abused relationship, how she feels trapped and paralyzed by the "love" of her partner regardless of the hurt and pains he causes her.
This was a beautiful piece, Kudos!

A PALETTE OF SCARS AND LOVE

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Copyright @SprinNG

A PALETTE OF SCARS AND LOVE

Leave a Reply.

Copyright @SprinNG​

Copyright @SprinNG