heart, drowned in longing
a mirror of the abyss
home, alight like stars

no context at first, just tell me what you think it means, what you think the poem might be trying to convey, etc

take your time

I think it’s like, yearning for another person but feeling held back by your own internal darkness so to speak, but you can actually find your darkness reflected in others, so this in turn transforms into a sense of security rather than fear

interesting

any other thoughts, or should i give a bit more context to its writing next

You can give context

all right first shred of context is that i [separate from the character who presents it] wrote it thinking about beiguang LOL

then there’s another shred of context that will probably change things again but i wanna see if this changes anything about your thoughts and impressions

Well, now I would probably say it’s more to do with the longing that comes with being separated by miles and miles of ocean, and returning home to the one you love

Though with that context the middle line is now lost on me

the word “abyss” is also lowercase on purpose, though i probably should’ve mentioned that

in this context it’s meant to evoke the sense of mystery and unknown and the fears associated with it and stuff but anyway

the final shred of context is that it’s meant to have been written by kazuha [not necessarily about beiguang, which is why i clarified that My authorial intent should be considered separately from the Character’s authorial intent]

Yeah that doesn’t really give me much more

hmm hmm hmm

all right, so in the scribbles i have written in regards to trying to figure out what this poem might mean or whatever bc if i try to write a poem with Intent it always fails

it’s basically meant to be about hitting rock bottom— or really, closer to being thrown to rock bottom— followed by the first sense of hope you get when looking upwards or by reflecting on yourself during that time of grief

hope after devastating grief

bc you can never return to the person you were before

so ofc you will mourn that

but at the same time, you can still see the stars

Yeah, I can kinda see it

Idk if it gives that a ton, but I can kinda see it

the way “clear” in english can also mean “obvious” → clearly one’s heart is heading somewhere dark where we know you may not return

but also the whole “a clear heart is also an empty heart” bit from kazuha

so the heart as a clear mirror of the abyss → meant to reinforce that sense of grief

ofc, that’s also pretty different from my original mental image when i was composing it with the intent for it to reference beiguang

“drowned in longing” was written more with the intent of getting shitfaced drunk at sea bc of yearning

“a mirror of the abyss” → written with the image of looking overboard at perhaps a glassy-still sea at night

like when you’re just not fuckin feeling it at a party and so you hang out at the railing and stare out, and then you’re greeted in this case by the reflection in the ocean

in this case the stars: where in the darkness, you will always still see the light of hope

but “home, alight like stars” was very much written with the imagery of the harbor at night and the jade chamber’s glow in the night sky as well

in thinking about it as a composition by kazuha, i think it would be most fittingly written as like, a memory of being picked up by beidou and looking back on the inazuma he has just left

like his friend just died; he has all this grief and he’s had no time to process any of it; thrown to rock-bottom as a wanderer by being exiled from his archipelago home: he can only drown at sea from here

but then he gets picked up, and he can see the city lights again— whether the lights are there as a reflection of the raiden’s lightning, simply the peaceful home lights of the citizens, or even yoimiya’s fireworks as a symbol of eternal memory are all perfectly valid— and knowing that he has been picked up, given a second chance to live, but that he must leave this place i think would strike a mixture of feelings

but the turning point is there, that in the darkness you may still see— and potentially choose— to hope and whatever

i also think the last line can be interpreted as envious when the whole poem is taken on its own without context

whether seeing other people lead peaceful lives while you are thrown into the darkness might strike envy or resentment in a person, so i like that the poem can have that kind of interpretation as well, even if it’s not the one i’m gunning for