Life in Words

Unpredictable Ocean

Another Poem I wrote last year, for an English Project. Includes the rationale. I wrote this poem because I was in love, and I was feeling hopeless. 

Unpredictable Ocean

Inside the ocean's waters climb
To sweep away my broken breath.
Like hearts full of hungry desire
For the blood they'll never get. 
I'll see the light of day again; 
But for now they've swallowed
Me under their emerald throat.

These emotions are waves,
So unpredictable.
Will they reach out in swirling thread 
To touch my innocent toes?
Or shall they tower above the tallest stone
And take me for their own? 
So unpredictable.

I may ignore the sea's foam that calls to me,
But its voice still fills my mind.
I grasp the wave that embraces my shins;
The butterflies flutter loudly-silent.
I am covered by the sapphire sheet
Of climbing transparent water. 
I smell the essence of his salty ignorance

I watch as the wave covers the sand beside me.
The feeling inside me swirls
Like the largest whirlpool of jealousy.
It burns inside me like a buzzing mosquito,
I'll slap the antagonist away.
The mystifying knowledge of nothing
Will never stop my wave.

The wave beside me will never reach to me,
It does not stop my heart 
From wishing it will. 
The frozen unpredictable waves 
May reach my melting heart
If they notice my waves are stronger.
I will be swallowed under the waveless ocean.

It lays dead, I float like the lightest bullet,
I may seem harmless until I hit you.
The waves are swirling around me;
I am swallowed.
My ocean climbs up the rockiest mountain. 
I'll trip and fall, 
But perhaps I'll be caught.

Rationale

"Unpredictable Ocean" is a poem about a person who has fallen in love, but that person does not love them back. The persona finds her feelings inside aren't stable enough and can't guess what she will feel in each moment that passes. Sometimes she is overwhelmed by her feelings of love and other times she just feels a flicker in her stomach. She feels that her strong love towards this boy keeps her from living in reality.

There are many metaphors, similes and examples of personification in my poem. At the beginning of the poem, in the first stanza, the ocean represents the persona's feelings of love and how she wishes for the same emotions back. In the second stanza the waves are given human qualities as they are reaching out to touch the persona and hug her shins, which waves cannot literally do at their own will. This is an example of personification. The third stanza's waves are the emotions the persona feels, and whether she decides to either except or ignore them. At the end of that stanza, we are introduced to the fact that who she likes does not feel the same way, and she thinks he ignores her.

In the fifth stanza, there is a Volta as the persona is now talking about the waves as another person: the boy she is in love with. She sees him interact with others, but not herself. The waves then change their role to her emotions, and how she hopes that her strong and committed feelings will be noticed. In the last stanza, the persona talks about how she is enveloped in her love and feelings. She starts to take action with her passions and emotions. She sees something about him too, yet she still has her doubts, but she has her hopes. This is why the poem is called 'Unpredictable Ocean' as the role of the waves keep changing. You cannot guess what they'll be next or when they'll change.

The inspiration for this poem comes from one of my favourite songs. "Shiver" by Coldplay (Look it up if you have not heard it before as it may help you understand my poem more). It is about loving someone, but the other person not loving back, but the person who loves them still perseveres. My personal experience also inspired me: when you want something to happen or when you want something, but you can't have it. Often teens/pre-teens crush on somebody, but the other part doesn't. It seems pathetic to some people or maybe themselves, but only a few stick with their emotions.

The similes in my poem help create imagery and visualisation of the scenes in these stanzas. 'Like hearts full of hungry desire for the love they'll never get.' Compares the feeling of desiring love to a heart needing blood to beat and send around the body. But the love is not there from the other person, so the heart will never get the blood that they need. 'The feeling inside me swirls like the largest whirlpool of jealousy.' This simile tells the reader that the persona is indeed jealous that her love interest doesn't feel the same way back. She envies the way he interacts with everybody but her. 'I float like the lightest bullet'. This simile is about how love makes the persona feel like she can do anything in the world, even be something she's not. The ocean of his romantic feelings lays flat with none of his love showing. But the persona's waves of love climb as she begins to take action and deal with what she feels.

The metaphors in my poem relate to the waves. The waves are also symbols for love, emotion and people. They poem help us physically or mentally see what is happening in the poem. 'These emotions are waves, so unpredictable.' This metaphor states that the emotions you feel when you're in love can change, just like the size and force of a wave varies. You can never guess the exact size of a wave to complete accuracy. The size and shape will always change. But when there are low and high tides in the water, you can make assumptions as to how the waves may act. Just like when you love somebody, there may be times when you see something they do, and you feel even more in love and you can predict that maybe you will like them even more. And sometimes things happen, and you stop liking them or feel a little less toward them. The waves in my poem represent that just like you can't guess the way you truly feel; you cannot guess what a wave will look or feel like.

This poem reflects what it's like to be in love, and how you can't always get what you want in life. It shows what it's like to be one half of a relationship, when the other half is not feeling the same way towards you. I wrote this poem because there are many love poems out there where everything is perfect, but there aren't many about rejected love. This poem tells the reader what it's like to be in love with somebody who doesn't feel the same way back. It's about not knowing how to control your emotions, and feeling like they are controlling you.