I don't cry anymore

I don't cry anymore.
I only text my therapist when I am low.
I call my mum when my day is slow.
I have a human heart — red in flesh, but morally black.
Mine, I guess, is blue, not black.
Because I am bad only when I am sad.
I am bad because I choose to be like you —
Like you people, self-centered and so self immune.
I am good when I water your grass,
But sometimes you make me harsh.
You think I am bad when I start watering my grey garden.
I am deaf in every meaning when I come to this one.

Poem (with key devices highlighted)

I don't cry anymore
(Metaphor, tone of numbness)
I only first text my therapist and that's when I am low,
(Modern realism, enjambment)
I first call my mum when my day is slow.
(Parallelism, internal rhythm)
I have a human heart that in real is red but morally black,
(Contrast, symbolism, color imagery, paradox)
Mine I guess is blue not black.
(Color symbolism, repetition, self-reflection)
Because I am bad only when I am sad...
(Rhyme, repetition, internal rhythm)
I am bad because I choose to be like you,
(Parallel structure, irony)
Like you people, self centered and so self immune.
(Alliteration “self centered / self immune,” neologism, moral critique)
I am good when I water your grass,
(Metaphor, idiom inversion — “the grass is greener”)
But there are times you make me harass.
(Antithesis, internal rhyme “grass/harass”)
You think I am bad when I start watering my grey garden,
(Symbolism, color imagery, extended metaphor — “grey garden” = emotional numbness or moral ambiguity)
I am deaf in every meaning when I come to this one.
(Metaphor for emotional detachment, ambiguity, paradox)

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🌿 Detailed list of poetic devices

Device	Example from poem	Effect / Explanation
Metaphor	“I don’t cry anymore,” “watering my grey garden,” “human heart… morally black”	Expresses emotional detachment and moral struggle symbolically.
Symbolism	Colors — red, black, blue, grey	Each color reflects emotional or moral states (red = life, black = guilt, blue = sadness, grey = numbness).
Contrast / Juxtaposition	“Red but morally black” / “Blue not black”	Highlights moral confusion and self-reflection.
Repetition	“I am bad…” repeated	Reinforces guilt, identity conflict, and rhythm.
Alliteration	“Self centered and so self immune”	Adds musicality and emphasis to criticism.
Internal rhyme	“Bad / sad,” “grass / harass”	Gives the free verse a rhythmic echo.
Parallelism	“I first text my therapist… / I first call my mum…”	Mirrors routine and emotional dependency.
Irony	“I am bad because I choose to be like you.”	Sarcastic moral reversal — choosing conformity as “badness.”
Paradox	“I am deaf in every meaning…”	Suggests emotional silence that’s both defense and punishment.
Neologism / inventive diction	“Self immune”	A coined phrase symbolizing emotional detachment and self-protection.
Enjambment	Lines flow without strict punctuation	Creates conversational rhythm and natural voice.
Tone	Reflective, confessional, morally fatigued	Conveys vulnerability and resignation.
Imagery	“Watering my grey garden”	Vivid picture of tending to one’s inner decay or sadness.
Colloquial realism	“Text my therapist,” “call my mum”	Grounds the poem in modern emotional experience.