Drawing and Poetry | "Your Memory Is A Terminal" - Fourth Drawing In My "Saudade" Series of Poetry Art

This is the fourth drawing in my new series of poetry art, "Saudade." If you missed the first, second and third drawings, you can find them here:

📝 The Theme of the Poetry 📝

As previously mentioned, all these poems are interconnected, forming a narrative in poetic form. However, each poem can stand alone, and it’s not necessary to read every piece to understand the connections. These poems revolve around interactions between three characters: an elderly man who raised an orphan boy, the orphan boy who has grown into a mysterious man, and the woman who loves this mysterious man.

In this fourth installment, I delve deeper into the story of the "mysterious man." In "Shadow," we discovered that he is "like a silent ghost at society's edge," observing the world with detachment. As an orphan, his past remains unknown to all.

In this poem, I explore the mysterious man's past, focusing on his memories, pain, and struggle for healing. The imagery of his "memory as a terminal" with unclaimed suitcases suggests that his past experiences are heavy, unprocessed, and neglected, creating a continuous burden.

The poem also portrays his lingering anger and consuming desire for revenge against those who have caused his pain, regardless of the cost.

Because of this pain, he cannot find peace or healing. Healing requires forgetting, which he is unwilling to do, leaving him trapped in a cycle of reliving past traumas and unable to move forward.

Overall, the poem paints a vivid picture of the mysterious man haunted by his past, weighed down by his memories and pain, and unable to heal or find lasting peace.

🎨 The Drawing 🎨

I thought long and hard about how to represent this poem in my drawing. I finally decided on a terminal to align with the poem’s metaphor of memory being a terminal. The suitcases symbolize the heavy, unprocessed, and neglected memories that the "mysterious man" carries, much like unclaimed luggage.

The solitary figure represents the "mysterious man." His stance and the empty surroundings emphasize his isolation and the emotional distance he maintains from society.

The stark black and white contrast in the drawing reflects the stark contrast in the poem between the man’s brief moments of joy and his pervasive pain. The overall mood of the drawing captures the relentless cycle of reliving past traumas, bitterness, and pain.

Initially, I thought of using black acrylic paint for this drawing, hence the black underpainting. However, I changed my mind and used black markers and pens instead.

Here are the progress photos...

And here is the completed drawing...

📝The Poem - "Your Memory Is A Terminal" 📝

Your memory is a terminal,
years pile upon years,
each one a suitcase,
battered and unclaimed.

In your better moments,
you guard those you love,
fiercely against shadows
that know your name,
whispering old wounds,
etching them into your bones.

In the darkness,
all you crave is retribution,
regardless of the cost.

Healing sits out of reach,
for to heal is to forget,
leaving you to fester
in nightmare upon nightmare,
reliving the cuts and burns
of yesterday.

Lollipops are your masks
over the weathered face
of a youth long lost,
each piece a brief joy
in a life that knows none.

So you remain frozen,
trapped in a time
where pain is the only constant,
and escape a distant dream.

❤️ What do you think of this poetry art? I really love working on this series and I hope you like it too. Please leave your comment below 😀❤️

That's it for now. If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much! Kindly give me a follow if you like my content. I mostly write about making art, life musing, and our mundane yet charming family life here in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Note: All images used belong to me unless stated otherwise.

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