Name: Abigail S. Calonia Grade and section: 12-St.

Michael the Archangel

Vulnerable
by: Pia Richelle Cogay

The scraped-heart was caress with bustling street

Runnin’ wild like a lake against the beat
Escapin’ pain with a heart of defeat
Pain‘s something she’d never wish to repeat.

The wild city made her heart stone-cold

Makes her forget the broken promises told
Believin' it will last long, then pandemic shakes
In a snap of a finger, her hope breaks.

Doors locked, windows latched, cries shed

The pain started to sting taking’ a lead
Immune to virus, vulnerable to love
The pandemic lasted longer than fireworks above.

Then she found a new comfort in loneliness,

Slowly thriving through the pain she’s scared to face
Yesterday she prayed that her agony will demise
Now, she pleaded for the virus to cease.

Poem Analysis:

The writer wrote this free verse love poem for her ex-lover, in the midst of the lockdown.
Throughout their relationship, they exchanged promises with each other but it suddenly faded
with a single snap. Because of that, both of them were misled, and the bond of trust was
breached. Although presented as a short-term expression of youthful passion, the central theme
of the poem is no matter how bad things are right now, we should keep going.

In the line, “the scraped-heart was caress with bustling street”; the poet has used personification.
In describing the lively street, he is personifying the scraped- heart and establishing it as a
representation of herself being overwhelmed by the pain. In the verse “Runnin’ wild like a lake
against the beat”, the author uses a simile by comparing her running speed from a lake. In the
line “the wild city made her heart stone-cold”, the author uses hyperbole for exaggerating her
grief that makes her heart cold as stone. Consonance is also being used in the verse, “doors
locked, windows latched, cries shed”. The sounds of ‘s’ and ‘d’ are in repetition. Moreover,
oxymoron is also found in the line, “immune to virus, vulnerable to love”. Immune and virus are
apparently contradictory terms that appear in conjunction. In the line “the pandemic lasted longer
than fireworks above”, the writer compares the pandemic from fireworks. However the term
“fireworks” also comes with signs of negativity such as that it gives the sky temporary happiness
and after a few minutes, brings the sky back to the darkness. Furthermore, we can refer to
“happiness” as the author’s experiences with her past lover while “darkness” as their broken
promises. Moreover, the author also uses imagery throughout the poem. Tactile is being used in
the line “the pain started to sting taking’ a lead” and visuals from the line “then she found a new
comfort in loneliness”.

Overall, the greatest lesson incorporated in the poem is that love is a beautiful and wonderful
feeling, but sometimes too much love can harm us. Just like the author, she was stuck on her ex-
lover, and the worst part was it got harder every day especially on the lockdown. Nevertheless,
she managed to get up and fight for it. Sometimes it takes heartbreak to shake us awake and help
us see our worth and be better.