Untitled - By: Nathan Lin

cycle of inherited gears

rapid deep clicks of gears

oil stained hands callused and worn from their fangs

working in lines making cogs

i can’t help but feel sympathy for them

well oiled machines eternally turning

the momentum of my past kept it’s spin

what could i ripple as a single cog in oceans of indifference

though maybe we all think that as the gears grind

i can hear the clicks the work continues

could i stop the cycle of contemptful fangs

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

The main focus of the poem is inherited pain and cycles of suffering from people being indifferent or "passing on" their own trauma. An example is parents that were abused passing on their own trauma onto their parents. Another example is people also passing on anger and hate by taking "revenge" on the people that hurt them by doing the same things to them. The metaphor can be interpreted as a child working in a cog factory, a form of irony in these children that make cogs but who are similar to cogs themselves working in the bigger system of the assembly line. It can also be seen as a person on the outside seeing these children working. The narrator expresses a desire to end the cycle, but feeling helpless to stop something that is so big. Yet, also wondering that maybe everyone else thinks this too which leads to the cycle continuing.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

I was originally inspired to write this poem wondering if we could move on from past, traumatic memories with how often they can come up at random times. That the pain passed onto us and how it contributes to cycles of pain onto others and ourselves. I wanted to try to make a shorter poem with more room for interpretation, which was difficult but I think spoke more to the abstract nature of this issue.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I want to try and end, or at least fight against these cycles of pain that came from simply saying "it is what it is" and this poem is a way of me doing that.

Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this?

Be honest with yourself, pour it all out onto the paper. By being open and understanding yourself, your poetry can move people.