Analysis of The New Religion
The body is a nation I have not known.
The pure joy of air: the moment between leaping
from a cliff into the wall of blue below. Like that.
Or to feel the rub of tired lungs against skin-
covered bone, like a hand against the rough of bark.
Like that. “The body is a savage,” I said.
For years I said that: the body is a savage.
As if this safety of the mind were virtue
not cowardice. For years I have snubbed
the dark rub of it, said, “I am better, Lord,
I am better,” but sometimes, in an unguarded
moment of sun, I remember the cowdung-scent
of my childhood skin thick with dirt and sweat
and the screaming grass.
But this distance I keep is not divine,
for what was Christ if not God’s desire
to smell his own armpit? And when I
see him, I know he will smile,
fingers glued to his nose, and say, “Next time
I will send you down as a dog
to taste this pure hunger.”
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101111 011110100110 1010101110111 111011101011 101101010111 11010101011 111110101010 11110101010 110011111 01111111101 111010101010 10111010011 111111101 00101 1110111101 1111111010 11111011 1111111 1011110111 11111101 111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 863 |
Words | 178 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 659 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 175 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The New Religion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/108288/the-new-religion>.
Discuss this Chris Abani poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In