Temperature (A Symptom) | Teen Ink

Temperature (A Symptom)

January 22, 2012
By lookingformargo SILVER, Ithaca, New York
lookingformargo SILVER, Ithaca, New York
8 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
A child said, &quot;What is the grass?&quot; fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven... and now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves. -Walt Whitman, Leaves Of Grass<br /> <br /> <br /> We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and falling. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail. -Looking For Alaska<br /> <br /> Here&#039;s what&#039;s not beautiful about it: from here, you can&#039;t see the rust or the cracked paint or whatever, but you can tell what the place really is. You see how fake it all is. It&#039;s not even hard enough to be made out of plastic. It&#039;s a paper town. I mean look at it, Q: look at all those cul-de-sacs, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm. All the paper kids drinking beer some bum bought for them at the paper convenience store. Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too. I&#039;ve lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters. -Paper Towns<br /> <br /> It is so hard to leave&mdash;until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world. -Paper Towns<br /> <br /> Elsewhere the landscape is more frank.<br /> The light falls without letup, blindingly. - A Life, Sylvia Plath


my sickness is enveloping
my list of symptoms endless

weakness of the knees

tendency to swoon

a temperature that changes like the weather

my hands always cold
my face always hot and flushed

i know how this began
my inconsistency is your fault

because my heart grew warm for the first time
with you
with your hands
and the heat they gave me on cold nights

under warm stars
and a cold moon



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This article has 10 comments.


on Jan. 30 2012 at 6:12 pm
readaholic PLATINUM, Tomahawk, Wisconsin
27 articles 0 photos 425 comments

Favorite Quote:
I&#039;d rather fail because I fell on my own face than fall because someone tripped me up<br /> ~Jhonen Vasquez

Really good poem! Smooth, but powerful. I think I might have this...

on Jan. 26 2012 at 6:57 pm
Aj3541 PLATINUM, North Vernon, Indiana
20 articles 10 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;the demons that she hides are all she knows&quot;

It flows like the wind, very smooth. Very good poem!!

on Jan. 26 2012 at 5:05 pm
youngwriter10 SILVER, Redmond, Oregon
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;We&#039;ve all heard that we have to learn from our mistakes, but I think it&#039;s more important to learn from successes. If you learn only from your mistakes, you are inclined to learn only errors.&quot;<br /> -Norman Vincent Peale

Wow really like this!

on Jan. 25 2012 at 7:15 pm
arctic121 BRONZE, Johnstown, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
i love it its butiful

on Jan. 25 2012 at 4:08 pm
rockyyyyyyyyy SILVER, Lawrenceville, Georgia
9 articles 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
dont let people drive u crazy if you know its in walking distance

VERY DOPE!

on Jan. 25 2012 at 3:38 pm
Blue4indigo PLATINUM, Sturbridge, Connecticut
24 articles 0 photos 382 comments

Favorite Quote:
I&#039;d rather be sorry for something that I did than for something I didn&#039;t do.<br /> -Red Scott

This was so sweep, love the "symptoms" and the way you describe this "sickness" It flows very nicely too :)

on Jan. 25 2012 at 3:25 pm
writinggirl20 PLATINUM, Marksville, Louisiana
37 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
What I say only comes straight from my mind, i do not judge. (a quote by me)

omg, i really really love it!!!

.king. SILVER said...
on Jan. 25 2012 at 11:44 am
.king. SILVER, Yeux Bien Tres Bien, Other
9 articles 4 photos 569 comments

Favorite Quote:
( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡&deg;)

I love your Temperature poem, It's quite sad, and nicely So simplely written, I like the style, and Too adore the last lines...Keep writing !

Shmelmo GOLD said...
on Jan. 25 2012 at 10:50 am
Shmelmo GOLD, Elma, Iowa
16 articles 9 photos 143 comments

Favorite Quote:
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

I really like this! My favorite part is "because my heart grew warm for the first time" Very cool - could you check out my poem - Once a Survivor, Forever a Fighter?

on Jan. 25 2012 at 10:46 am
stardreamer SILVER, Flemington, New Jersey
5 articles 0 photos 29 comments
This is so relatable! i love the last stanza! beautiful :)