Dead Men Are Heavier Than Broken Hearts

I think when I wrote this poem, I started off with the title. The title is a quote from The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. It basically means there are worse things that can happen to someone than heartbreak, even though it is hard to believe when you feel like heartbreak will be the end of you. Life goes on, though.

You're cute

I kind of like you

Just the way I like my brandy

In a glass

Poured to perfection

Smooth with no chase

Neither one of us needs to run

I wanted the tone to be straightforward, the way people speak in film noir specials. This first stanza paints a picture of a black-and-white film where the protagonist is holding a drink and speaking in the typical manner that actors spoke in back then.

You ask me what I like to do for fun

I say I like to play the horses

See them work out a little first

See if they're front-runners or come from behind

Find out what their hole card is

What makes them run

What makes you run?

Is it sugar?

No reply

In addition to quoting the book, The Big Sleep, I also quote from the film adaptation. This second stanza is a quote from Lauren Bacall's character, but it's a metaphor for trying to figure out a new lover's motives--what makes them "tick," so to speak.

Until you ask me what my first step is

My first step to winning you over

I reply that it will be the usual one

You say you didn't know there was a usual one

I reply with something unusually rude

You say you don't like my manners

I don't mind

I don't like them myself

They're pretty bad

I grieve over them, long winter evenings

I think I was inspired by the dynamics of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall--the characters they played. They are witty and they speak with quick responses to the other. Yet, they have this undeniable attraction for one another.

You're worried about breaking my heart

I say there are worse things

Like death

The big sleep

You're just a dream, you know

You're not the best thing to ever happen to me

There's an affirmation in this stanza about there being worse things in life than heartbreak, like death.

Oh no

Did I hurt you much, sugar?

You reply that I did

Me and every other man you've ever met

I accept that

I'm a loaded pistol

You're a lonely knife

Got yourself caught up

In an unfair gun fight

It's safe to say that love is not a fair fight sometimes.

You're cute

But I don't like you that much

Just like I don't like orchids

Nasty things

Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men

And their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption

Again, I use another reference here to The Big Sleep to say that love always comes with the chance of corruption, but that there are still worse things out there than heartbreak.