Analysis of " A Thump in the Night."

Robert C. Ray 1953 (United States)



Late night driving, always on the go.
        I felt a big thump, then I thought Oh No!
         Should I pull over, or continue to drive.
         To check if that thump, was dead or alive.
           I drove on and on, not able to go back.
        But I was not driving a car, but rather a Mack.
         There was no wide area for me to turn around.
              In a truck you can drive many miles.
                       Before one is found.
            Next morning I read in the local news.
             The police knew nothing about it.
                       They just had no clues.
           My conscience was getting right out of hand.
          I must turn myself in, and see where I land.
                 To prison is where I truly deserve.
          Why didn't I slow down, or suddenly swerve?
               It turned out to be a prominent man.
        The thump that I hit, was a guy they called Dan.
             He was out after dark, just having a stroll.
                   His wife warned him to be careful,
                          "Don't step in a hole."
           So he wandered across, to my oncoming truck.
            Which plowed him right over, a case of bad luck.
           Just shy of the woods, where his body was found.
              A hiker saw Dan, but he heard not a sound.
            He stared at the body, and knew it was dead.
              A trickle of blood ran clear down his head.
              This hiker was not quite sure what to do.
          By now Dan's body was cold, his face turning blue.
                So the hiker decided to be on his way.
           And leave the rotting corpse right there to decay.
               The buzzards now circled above in the air.
                  It just made no sense, it didn't seem fair.
                "Buzzards gotta eat too." Jack Nicholson said.
                          In a movie called" Goin South"
                               It had stuck in my head.  
           But for Dan's loved ones, this was no way to go.
                 They all had high hopes for him.
                      He was the star of the show.
         A promising young athlete, an outstanding scholar.
                    There will be no gold medal,
                       to hang around his collar.
          What a shame to think of what might have been.
           This story is so depressing, no good way to end.


Scheme AABBCCDEDFGFHHIIJJKLKMMDDNNOOPPQQNRNASATLTUV
Poetic Form
Metre 11101101 1101111111 11110101011 1111111101 11101110111 1111100111001 1111100111101 001111101 01111 1101100101 001110011 11111 1101101111 1111001111 1101111001 11011111001 1111101001 01111101111 11110111001 11111110 11001 11100111101 11111001111 11101111011 01011111101 11101001111 0101111111 1101111111 111101111101 10101011111 01010111101 01011001001 1111111011 10101111001 0010111 111011 11111111111 1111111 1101101 01001111010 1111110 1101110 1011111111 1101101011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 2,387
Words 366
Sentences 42
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 44
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,363
Words per stanza (avg) 362

About this poem

A story about the tragic ending of a future Olympic star. The poem is fiction. I just made it up.

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Written on September 03, 2021

Submitted by truslerve53 on September 03, 2021

Modified on April 12, 2023

1:51 min read
39

Robert C. Ray

I am a retired truck driver who lost my wife 5 years ago very suddenly. I love Music, Sports, and Movies, especially old ones. more…

All Robert C. Ray poems | Robert C. Ray Books

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    "" A Thump in the Night."" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/108459/%22-a-thump-in-the-night.%22>.

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