Analysis of AUNTY MABEL: ENERGY VAMPIRES
Aunty Mabel lived to be
One hundred-and-two years of age,
While your relatives all died.
"How sad," she would say
"When your children die first,
"And you have to live on."
At first, people believed
The grief Aunty Mabel showed,
Whenever her children died.
First Maude died at thirty,
John and Gillian went soon after,
Then Gillian's daughter, Jayne.
But still, Aunt Mabel lived
Through her seventies, eighties, nineties,
As though she were a carrier.
A carrier of some illness
That killed everyone around her,
Leaving Aunty Mabel untouched.
But as she reached ninety
And all her children were dead,
People started to wonder.
"She's a vampire!"
Cried her grandson, Maurice, having
Buried his mum that day!
"Don't be silly, dad!"
Said Maurice's daughter, Alicia,
Although she sounded unsure.
But then the following year
Maurice followed his mother, Doris,
Dead at just fifty-four.
And Alicia began to wonder
If somehow Aunty Mabel could,
Really be a vampire?
As Aunty Mabel lived on
Her children slowly withered away,
As though they were plagued.
"Like the victims of vampires,
"With a slow withering illness,
"As their blood is drained!"
But despite Alicia's claims
Tests on her father proved that,
He had no blood missing.
Still, Alicia wondered
How her father seemingly healthy,
Could die suddenly, so young?
Then Alicia herself died
As did her sons David and Joe,
Leaving Aunty Mabel alone.
So selling up her house
At a hundred-and-two years old,
Mabel went into a home.
"Hello, Mrs. Robertson,"
Greeted Aged Care Assistant, Gladys,
With a Mainland Colby accent.
"You're a New Zealand?"
Asked Aunty Mabel in a strong voice,
"How did you know?" asked Gladys.
At first, Mabel did well
In her new environment, although,
The other residents died.
Just like in hospitals
In age care facilities,
The death rate is always high.
But after Aunty Mabel arrived
The residents started to die faster,
For a while almost one a day.
But gradually Aunty Mabel
Began to fade and slow down as well,
Her strong voice became frail.
The other residents still died
But Aunty Mabel herself was dying now,
And soon she was dead.
Within just four months
Of moving into the care home,
Aunty Mabel had died.
"She seemed so strong,"
Said Gladys, "As though she could,
"Almost live forever."
"She was a vampire!"
Swore Old Mary, her own sister
Having died there that week.
Gladys shook her head
Sad that people could be so cruel,
"Poor Mrs. Robertson."
Even the ones you love
Sap your strength and health,
Just like vampires of old.
THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Scheme | AXB CXD XXB AEX FGE HEX AIE JKC XLX XHX EMJ DCX XHX XXK XAX BNX XOP QRX XXR SNB XGX FEC TSX BXI XPB XME JEX ITQ XXO XXL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (27%) |
Metre | 110111 11001111 1110011 11111 111011 011111 111001 011101 0100101 111110 101001110 11101 111101 101001010 11100100 01001110 1110010 1011001 111110 0101001 1010110 1010 1010110 101111 11101 110010010 111001 1101001 011011010 111101 001001110 111101 101010 111011 010101001 11101 1010110 10110010 11111 1010101 1101011 111110 101010 101010010 1110011 1010011 11011001 1011001 110101 10100111 1010101 0110100 101101010 1011001 10110 11100011 1111110 111011 00101001 0101001 11010 0110100 011111 11011001 0100101110 1011101 11000110 011101111 011011 01010011 1110011101 01111 01111 11001011 11011 1111 1101111 11010 11010 11100110 101111 10101 111011110 110100 100111 11101 111011 01 101010 100100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,629 |
Words | 464 |
Sentences | 37 |
Stanzas | 30 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 90 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 71 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 15 |
About this poem
An energy vampire supposedly is someone who lives by draining the life force of those around them. Although the theory sounds absurd, there is no doubt there are cases of people (usually old women) who seem to live forever while everyone else in their family dies young. When they have no more living relatives to care for them, they are put in an aged care home and die in a few months. As though the life force of the elderly was not strong enough to sustain them!
Written on 1999
Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on September 03, 2021
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 2:21 min read
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"AUNTY MABEL: ENERGY VAMPIRES" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/108406/aunty-mabel%3A-energy-vampires>.
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