The Rebirth Quartet (yes ik it's corny, gimme a break)

by DomTheDumb

Published September 7, 2026

12+

In Misc

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This is a quartet of poems, written at different times in my life. These are not particularly good poems, for I am not much for writing poetry. But they are the best way I could get me out of myself. The poems reflect the moments in my life they were written. The first three were written in the same night, at 3 in the morning, as I sat white-knuckling through a hailstorm of misery. The 4th was written a year later.
Happy reading.

#1 - Buried
I sit here; unconscious
Almost.
I wish I was.

I wish I drank,
Almost.

I wish I smoked,
Never.

Life seems bleak, as though it is over;
I almost wish it was.
Light shines, in the dark reaches of my space.

New.
Bright.
Unfading.

It, like a siren, calls me;
Like a lost sailor, I answer.

I am tired. I am faded. I seek nourishment;
In the undiminishing.

I am empty; I was never full, or always have been.
I am dry.
The fuel has left me.

I seek replenishment; in the cruel,
Unfading;
Everlasting light
Of purpose rediscovered.

I beseech whomever listens, I pray, I prostrate myself;
Let me find deliverance.

For I am empty.

Tired.

Dying.

I seek a reason to smile.

I beseech whomever listens, I pray, I prostrate myself;
Deliver me.

#2 - Illusions
I hunt for illusions;
For the balm they are,
For the succour they provide.

I find illusions;
They are shadows,
Unreal and immaterial,
Un-enough to sustain.

Reality finds me.

I am sick.

Of reality;
Of the world as is;
Of ceaseless effort;
Of tiresome pursuit.

Never finding,
For nothing I do is enough.

There is no illusion of success,
To stave off the realities of failure.

I seek illusion;
Not as self-deception,
For I will know myself to be illuded.

I seek illusion;
For nothing can be done,
Without it.

Hope, another word;
Both are the same –
Un-forthcoming,
Vital.

I seek illusions;
Small, every day.

Something, anything;
Arms in the fight.

I want to fight, never give up;
But I am alone.

Even hope has abandoned me;
Yet I harbour it, or some ghostly echo.

I am alone.

I hope that I am enough;
For I deserve
The victory.

I hope.

But I am alone.

#3 - Mistakes
I am my mistakes;
Of them, there are many.
Enough to, in lonely despair, drown;
Strangle in the depths.

Often, I am alone;
Accompanied by myself.
And I am not good company.

Blame is easily bandied by many;
I am my fault.
That is not a bandie-ment.

What I am;
I have made.
I was a fool.

I have been a fool.

Perhaps,
I will be again.

But;
I will be better.

For once, I dreamt;
Great dreams of a great life.

That dreamer lives, still;
Under the me that is mistakes,
And errors,
And idiocy.

I must fight;
Or die trying.

For the dreamer;
And his impossible dreams.

Impossible, that is, for;
Me the Mistake.

For him, the Dreamer, they are fact.

For the Dreamer, I shall dare;
In the daring, I hope, to find…

Peace.

Peace such that;
I may stare at the mirror, and
Not imagine a hangman’s noose.

#4 - Light and Ichor
“O!” would I cry,
Despondent and torn.
“Woe is me!” I would scream,
Into the empty void
Of life lonely.

Much the beauty was I;
A beauty losing her looks,
Afraid of being upstaged.

That misery is dying now,
Though to claim it is gone
I would lie.

The black clouds are fading,
As the golden light
Of the world beyond streams through
The cracks.

“Am I a chick?” I wonder;
Born anew under a strange sun,
Hatching forth from a forgotten egg.

But I am being born.

That is true.

Fed, am I, by the ichor of light.

I want to scream again,
But in joy!

Or something approaching it.

But I welcome
The light,
Like an old friend.

For it is an old friend.
How foolish am I to have forgotten.

Comments & reviews · 4
User avatar
DomTheDumb
Comment
Stickied · DomTheDumb commented Comment · Sep 7

Had to edit the formatting on this motherfucker twice. Pls lmk if the formatting still doesn't make sense

User avatar
TheQueen
Review
TheQueen wrote a review Review · Sep 27

Hi Dom,
Q here to review your work as promised!😊

Let me break it down because there is quite a lot here.
First poem:
Praise: It was incredibly beautiful, and I loved how you expressed how you feel during a tough time. In this poem, these lines personally spoke to me the most:

Life seems bleak, as though it is over;
I almost wish it was.
Light shines, in the dark reaches of my space.


I seek a reason to smile.


I beseech whomever listens, I pray, I prostrate myself;
Deliver me.


I can deeply relate to all of this, just know, you are not alone in whatever you are struggling with.

Critique:
Maybe , in some of the lines, show the reader how you are feeling, not just tell them . Phrases like "I am tired" or "Life seems bleak" tell the reader exactly what to feel instead of letting them feel it.

Also, maybe you could replace the metaphor of the siren with another, since it seems quite common, no?

Second poem:
Praise.
This poem was equally beautiful, just like all of them. Like the first one , you describe how you feel so beautifully, you should really show me how you do it.

Critique:
Some of the words you used, like "succour," "illuded," and "un-forthcoming" do'nt sound right for the raw, honest tone for the rest of the poem. You could also expand on the illusions, like include an example as well?

Third poem:
Praise:
Sometimes , we all have phrases in life where we find it hard to forgive ourselves for mistakes and people who have rejected us in the past. I have just recently broke through that phrase and I am now finding my own self worth . This poem captures it beautifully through

Critique:
The dreamer part could be more specific, like give more specific, vivid details would make it better. Nothing else.

Fourth poem
Praise:
I am happy you have finally found your self-worth, and I love the title of this poem. Were you actually making fun of your own past drama?

Critique:
Explore the Ichor imagery used in the poem. Maybe dive into it a little more?

Hope that this was helpful,
Q

DomTheDumb replied · Sep 30

Hey, Q! Ty for the review; I didn't see the notif earlier for whatever reason lol.

Also this review is so helpful! I agree with a lot of what you're saying from a craft perspective, but tbh, idk if I'm going to edit it. These poems, and I'm not a poet mind, were written in less than a minute each and were born out of sheer, uncontrollable emotion. I think I want the reminder; the harshness, the jagged edges, I think, make it more real for me. I may never submit them to a poetry journal, or I may do, but I will keep them as is I think.

You're right in most of what you've said, but... yeah.

This was an exceptionally helpful review though for future poetry. Ty! :)

TheQueen replied · Sep 30

I'm glad that it was! Honestly, my poems have lots of uncontrollable emotion too

User avatar
yuuki
Review
yuuki wrote a review Review · Sep 8

hmmmmmmmmm
minasan! i'm yuuki, and i thought i might review this work. this most likely will be sort of brief because i don't have much time!

so i was sort of overwhelmed at first. it's very long and looming, i feel stanza breaks would be very useful. if this was intentional, gomen, please forgive me.

I sit here; unconscious
Almost.
I wish I was.


i really like this line. it kind of speaks to me in a way, i think. sometimes i wish i was unconscious rather than having to deal with life in general. it's a simple escape.

again i don't have any critiques besides stanza spacing, so that's really it

sorry this was so short! i'm really short on time.
arigato!
yuuki (aka kiki)

DomTheDumb replied · Sep 9

Hello! Ty for the review and I'm so glad you liked it :)

There 100% is stanza spacing... Idk why it's gone. I think maybe a copy-paste error? I should have checked lmao. Let me fix it rq

DomTheDumb replied · Sep 9

Hello! I edited the stanza breaks back in. For some reason, when copy-pasting the stanza breaks deleted themselves lol

yuuki replied · Sep 9

hehe np! i totally get it

User avatar
poesiasdeamor
Review
poesiasdeamor wrote a review Review · Sep 8

This is beautiful work. I can relate heavily to every singld poem. The word choice, The imagery, everything about this poem is outstanding. Here is my analysis of each poem:

1 - Buried
I sit here; unconscious
Almost.
I wish I was.
I wish I drank,
Almost.
I wish I smoked,
Never.
Life seems bleak, as though it is over;
I almost wish it was.
Light shines, in the dark reaches of my space.
New.
Bright.
Unfading.
It, like a siren, calls me;
Like a lost sailor, I answer.
I am tired. I am faded. I seek nourishment;
In the undiminishing.
I am empty; I was never full, or always have been.
I am dry.
The fuel has left me.
I seek replenishment; in the cruel,
Unfading;
Everlasting light
Of purpose rediscovered.
I beseech whomever listens, I pray, I prostrate myself;
Let me find deliverance.
For I am empty.
Tired.
Dying.
I seek a reason to smile.
I beseech whomever listens, I pray, I prostrate


This speaks to me because I can tell that the speaker feels numb and empty, and is at a low point in their life. The wish for substance, the need to feel something. Everything about this is beautifully portrayed.

#2 - Illusions
I hunt for illusions;
For the balm they are,
For the succour they provide.
I find illusions;
They are shadows,
Unreal and immaterial,
Un-enough to sustain.
Reality finds me.
I am sick.
Of reality;
Of the world as is;
Of ceaseless effort;
Of tiresome pursuit.
Never finding,
For nothing I do is enough.
There is no illusion of success,
To stave off the realities of failure.
I seek illusion;
Not as self-deception,
For I will know myself to be illuded.
I seek illusion;
For nothing can be done,
Without it.
Hope, another word;
Both are the same –
Un-forthcoming,
Vital.
I seek illusions;
Small, every day.
Something, anything;
Arms in the fight.
I want to fight, never give up;
But I am alone.
Even hope has abandoned me;
Yet I harbour it, or some ghostly echo.
I am alone.
I hope that I am enough;
For I deserve
The victory.
I hope.
But I am alone.


This poem really represents how it feels to be in a depressive state, and feeling like nothing will ever get better. I love this, this is very real and relatable


#3 - Mistakes
I am my mistakes;
Of them, there are many.
Enough to, in lonely despair, drown;
Strangle in the depths.
Often, I am alone;
Accompanied by myself.
And I am not good company.
Blame is easily bandied by many;
I am my fault.
That is not a bandie-ment.
What I am;
I have made.
I was a fool.
I have been a fool.
Perhaps,
I will be again.
But;
I will be better.
For once, I dreamt;
Great dreams of a great life.
That dreamer lives, still;
Under the me that is mistakes,
And errors,
And idiocy.
I must fight;
Or die trying.
For the dreamer;
And his impossible dreams.
Impossible, that is, for;
Me the Mistake.
For him, the Dreamer, they are fact.
For the Dreamer, I shall dare;
In the daring, I hope, to find…
Peace.
Peace such that;
I may stare at the mirror, and
Not imagine a hangman’s noose.


I like how this poem represents beginning to have some hope, and wanting to fight your battles, this is my absolute favorite poem of this quartet.


- Light and Ichor
“O!” would I cry,
Despondent and torn.
“Woe is me!” I would scream,
Into the empty void
Of life lonely.
Much the beauty was I;
A beauty losing her looks,
Afraid of being upstaged.
That misery is dying now,
Though to claim it is gone
I would lie.
The black clouds are fading,
As the golden light
Of the world beyond streams through
The cracks.
“Am I a chick?” I wonder;
Born anew under a strange sun,
Hatching forth from a forgotten egg.
But I am being born.
That is true.
Fed, am I, by the ichor of light.
I want to scream again,
But in joy!
Or something approaching it.
But I welcome
The light,
Like an old friend.
For it is an old friend.
How foolish am I to have forgotten.


This is an AMAZING end to this quartet, representing healing and newfound happiness. I really really love this poem and I think you did an amazing job.

Overall this quartet are my FAVORITE poems that I've read on this platform so far. I genuinely believe this deserves some sort of award. OUTSTANDING JOB you are very very gifted. Keep writing!

DomTheDumb replied · Sep 9

Thank you for the glowing review! I'm so glad you liked it :)

DomTheDumb replied · Sep 9

Hello! I edited the stanza breaks back in. For some reason, when copy-pasting the stanza breaks deleted themselves lol

Just letting you know bc the poems now read as they should, and not as giant blocks of text. Your reading experience of them may, therefore, change and you might like to read them as I meant for them to be read :D



“Sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine. I couldn't get the boy to kill me, but I wore his jacket for the longest time.”
— Richard Siken