Untitled (Every Word)

Three poems in The Rose That Grew from Concrete remained without their own title. One of them is called simply Untitled in the book and describes a relationship in the moment of collapse. The text is listed by its opening words as Untitled (Every Word); it is sometimes called “Untitled Poetry II”. It appears in the second part, “Nothing Can Come Between Us”, between Carmencita of the Bronx! and Love Is Just Complicated.

Conversations end before they begin

Every word cuts to the heart, and conversations are over before they have properly begun. In between stands the same recurring question: Is this what you want, and does it have to be this way? Later, the speaker also asks himself whether this is what he wants. This repetition turns the short text into a circular motion from which no one can find a way out.

In the middle, Tupac offers a sober diagnosis: this is not a game, but love. Yet while one part is being played, the other is cherished. This imbalance of feelings is the real subject. In the end, the speaker feels two hearts breaking.

In the end, open questions remain

Unlike many love poems in the book, this one does not end with a promise or a punchline, but with open questions. That is precisely what distinguishes it from texts like Nothing Can Come Between Us or Wife 4 Life, which count on permanence and loyalty. Untitled (Every Word) shows the other side: a love that cannot be saved, even though both are suffering.

The missing title feels almost fitting in this context, because the poem refuses to commit to anything. That, however, is an interpretation. Whether Tupac intentionally omitted the title is not known.

Who the poem is addressed to and when it was written is not documented. According to the preface by Afeni Shakur, the poems date from the years 1989 to 1991. Who the two hearts were that break in it remains just as open as the poem itself.

More about the book and all poems in the introduction.