Analysis of The Love We Planted before Sleep



Uju walked to the ground which we watered
before we went with the night breeze to our

bed. I saw something slither from her mouth;
it was her heavenly tongue, but they looked like

they brought brimstones from the hell of her throat.
I was waiting for a good morning when

she shone sharp teeth at me. I swallowed
hard and watched her mouth move:

unless you own a cattle ranch,
my heart will not moove;

and if your future doesn't have a plot of
land on Mars, do not plan-it with me.

the promises we made at night were
the consequences of drinking too much

moon juice and peppered porridge.
now that our eyes have been washed

with the yellow sponge of morning light,
let us vomit those things we ate and find

out where we mistook words for brisket
and called them yummy. that thing you

called my confession of a lifetime was
the buttocks of the cock, and that thing

I said about not caring about a bank account,
was the fat bone that almost choked me.

rinse your teeth with fresh ugwu leaves
and remove the smudge of alphabets between

your incisors; they look like lies lying in wait.
and from the way they chatter, they still think

I’m a fool. if you have not softened your lips
with kingly honey, we cannot be.

Uju, your waist-beads sing like the bird
whose head hangs high in the cloud

when lightning and rain are about to
fight for food. I want to make sure that

their appetizer is not your friendly forest.
I do not have a cow, but remember that our

moovement will be quicker without one.
mars has flags flying from its red head.

we cannot claim it; but I will purchase Jupiter
if you promise to be the one to check the

landmarks and hire the workmen who live
there. Don't destroy our night seeds; come

and sit beside me and explain why your thighs
smell like liver hanging over charcoal fire.


Scheme AB XX XX XC XC XD BX XX XX XE XX XD XX XX XD AX EX XB XX BX XX XB
Poetic Form
Metre 111011110 01111011110 1111010101 11010011111 111101101 1110101101 111111110 101011 01110101 11111 01110101011 111111111 010011110 010011011 1101010 11101111 101011101 1110111101 111011110 01110111 110101011 010101011 1101110010101 10111111 1111111 001011101 101011111001 0101110111 10111111011 110101101 11111101 1111001 110011011 111111111 11001111010 1111011010110 11110011 111101111 1101111110100 11101101110 101001011 110110111 01011001111 11101010110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,833
Words 385
Sentences 17
Stanzas 22
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 65
Words per stanza (avg) 15

About this poem

This is a poem that underlines how lovers can make false promises to themselves under certain circumstances.

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Written on September 21, 2021

Submitted by ceejayfenley on November 20, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:56 min read
34

Chukwuebuka Joseph

Chukwuebuka Joseph is a poet and fiction story writer from eastern Nigeria. He enjoys discourses that verge on romance, religion and the things people don't like to talk about. more…

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    Who wrote the poem "Love After Love"?
    A William Shakespeare
    B Rabindranath Tagore
    C Robert Burns
    D Derek Walcott