---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: with this bullet lodged in my chest…"
description: "\"“with this bullet lodged in my chest, covered with your name, I will turn myself into a gun, because it’s all I have, because I’m hungry and hollow and..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/richard-siken-4133_bullet_with-this-bullet-lodged-in-my-chest-cove_2438253.jpg"
---

#  with this bullet lodged in my chest, covered with your…

![“with this bullet lodged in my chest, covered with your name, I will turn myself into a gun, because it’s all I have, because I’m hungry and hollow and just want something to call my own. I’ll be your slaughterhouse, your killing floor, your morgue and final resting, walking around with this bullet…” quote by Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/richard-siken-4133_bullet_with-this-bullet-lodged-in-my-chest-cove_2438253.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/richard-siken-4133_bullet_with-this-bullet-lodged-in-my-chest-cove_2438253.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/richard-siken-4133_bullet_with-this-bullet-lodged-in-my-chest-cove_2438253.jpg)

> ““with this bullet lodged in my chest, covered with your name, I will turn myself into a gun, because it’s all I have, because I’m hungry and hollow and just want something to call my own. I’ll be your slaughterhouse, your killing floor, your morgue and final resting, walking around with this bullet inside me ‘cause I couldn’t make you love me and I’m tired of pulling your teeth.””

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker turns personal pain and unrequited love into a weapon, expressing emptiness and a desperate need for ownership.

**In simple terms:** Pain becomes a weapon for love.

Key Takeaway

Channel hurt into creative expression.

Themes

love pain identity desperation creativity

Mood

intense melancholic

Type

poetic emotional

When to use this quote

- writing
- therapy
- artistic performance

Key Concepts

self‑destruction ownership longing

Questions to Reflect On

- What does the bullet symbolize for you?
- Can love be reclaimed without self‑destruction?

A Different Perspective

Such self‑harmful metaphors can glorify unhealthy coping.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

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> [For Whom Would You Take This Bullet ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bassam/for-whom-would-you-take-this-bullet/)

[Ali Bassam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bassam/)

> [This is like playing Russian roulette with a Luger rather than a revolver. One bullet, one chamber - and we're pulling the trigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/this-is-like-playing-russian-roulette-with-a-luger-rather-than-a/)

[Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/)

> [“If mankind's destined to bite the bullet, let's bite it and be damned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/if-mankind-s-destined-to-bite-the-bullet-let-s-bite-it-and-be-damned/)

[Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/)

> [When you give someone a second chance, you're giving them an extra bullet to shoot you with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-give-someone-a-second-chance-you-re-giving-them-an-extra/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When a person has a gun, sometimes their mind clicks that this thing will win arguments and straighten people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/when-a-person-has-a-gun-sometimes-their-mind-clicks-that-this-thing/)

[Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/)

> [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/)

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> [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/)

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> [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/)

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## More by Richard Siken

> [“Personally, I’m a mess of conflicting impulses—I’m independent and greedy and I also want to belong and share and be a part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/personally-i-m-a-mess-of-conflicting-impulses-i-m-independent-and/)

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> [Here I am in a rabbit run, here I am in a valley of pine, waiting for you to find me. I could pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/here-i-am-in-a-rabbit-run-here-i-am-in-a-valley-of-pine-waiting-for/)

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> [“We're shooting the scene where I swallow your heart and you make me spit it up again. I swallow your heart and it crawls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/we-re-shooting-the-scene-where-i-swallow-your-heart-and-you-make-me/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [He was pointing at the moon, but I was looking at his hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/he-was-pointing-at-the-moon-but-i-was-looking-at-his-hand/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [You play along, because you want to die for love, you always have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/you-play-along-because-you-want-to-die-for-love-you-always-have/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [“Here we are, at the place where I get to beg for it. Where I get to say ‘Please, for just one night, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/here-we-are-at-the-place-where-i-get-to-beg-for-it-where-i-get-to-say/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [“I’m sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/i-m-sorry-about-the-blood-in-your-mouth-i-wish-it-was-mine/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [“The stranger says there are no more couches and he will have to sleep in your bed. You try to warn him, you tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/the-stranger-says-there-are-no-more-couches-and-he-will-have-to-sleep/)

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> [“I looked at all the trees and didn’t know what to do. A box made out of leaves. What else was in the woods?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/i-looked-at-all-the-trees-and-didn-t-know-what-to-do-a-box-made-out/)

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> [Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us. These, our bodies, possessed by light. Tell me we'll never get used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/tell-me-how-all-this-and-love-too-will-ruin-us-these-our-bodies/)

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> [“It’s not like a tree where the roots have to end somewhere, it’s more like a song on a policeman’s radio, how we rolled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/it-s-not-like-a-tree-where-the-roots-have-to-end-somewhere-it-s-more/)

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> [“want to tell you this story without having to confess anything, without having to say that I ran out into the street to prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/want-to-tell-you-this-story-without-having-to-confess-anything/)

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> [Here is the repeated image of the lover destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/here-is-the-repeated-image-of-the-lover-destroyed/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

> [“You cannot get in the way of anyone's path to God. You can, but it does no good. Every spy knows this. Somesay God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/you-cannot-get-in-the-way-of-anyone-s-path-to-god-you-can-but-it-does/)

[Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

[Explore all 115 Richard Siken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/)

## More Bullet quotes

> [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/)

[James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/)

> [“Lately, it had been an endless procession of long, black nights and gray mornings, when her sense of failure swept over her like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/lately-it-had-been-an-endless-procession-of-long-black-nights-and/)

[Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/)

> [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/)

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> [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/)

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[Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/)

> [This is like playing Russian roulette with a Luger rather than a revolver. One bullet, one chamber - and we're pulling the trigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/this-is-like-playing-russian-roulette-with-a-luger-rather-than-a/)

[Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/)

> [For Whom Would You Take This Bullet ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bassam/for-whom-would-you-take-this-bullet/)

[Ali Bassam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bassam/)

> [“I don’t know how these things died without benefit of a bullet to the brain pan. They seemed to exist in an eternal twilight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-ramirez/i-don-t-know-how-these-things-died-without-benefit-of-a-bullet-to-the/)

[Steven Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-ramirez/)

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[Gale Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-sayers/)

> [I carved your name into this bullet so that everyone would know that you were the last thing going through my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-carved-your-name-into-this-bullet-so-that-everyone-would-know-that/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If you take a shot at someone, you keep firing until they can no longer return fire. Wound them, and you have an angry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/if-you-take-a-shot-at-someone-you-keep-firing-until-they-can-no/)

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> [“So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend. A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/so-i-heard-the-boom-of-my-father-s-rifle-when-he-shot-my-best-friend/)

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> [I'll be your number one with a bullet. A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fall-out-boy/i-ll-be-your-number-one-with-a-bullet-a-loaded-god-complex-cock-it/)

[Fall Out Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fall-out-boy/)

Browse all 493 Bullet quotes

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