The Guilt of a Lake
Cold
Black
Dark
Culpability begins to fill his thoughts as water fills his throat
Deeper and deeper as the sky grows farther and farther
Left only with his mind; unable to float
Vision blurs as the sandy deep hits him
Branches? No, sand- perhaps a leaf
As he pays closer attention, he realizes it’s not supposed to be in the deep
Eyes shut tight as the burn of lungs begins to end
The only burning fire of the lake heating in his heart
As he takes his final watery breath, he knows his guilt is unable to mend
About this poem
A man drowns, and as he is slowly consumed by the water he realizes it is the same lake he threw his murdered bodies. He sees them, dying the terrible fate of his own victims. He begins to understand there’s no way out of this- he’s not just going down in the lake; he’s going down to hell. He feels guilty for all the terrible things he’s done, and wishes he could go back and fix all he did to set things right… but it’s a bit too late for that.
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Written on January 25, 2023
Submitted by kasey_lc13 on May 10, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 2 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | ABCDEDFGHIJI |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
| Characters | 514 |
| Words | 100 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 12 |
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"The Guilt of a Lake" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/159165/the-guilt-of-a-lake>.
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