Analysis of Order and Chaos

David Whitfield 1966 (Sherman TX)



This world, this life a little chaos contains
It storms around taking down names
In the transition, between yin and yang
The power lies for order to claim.

Night falls, I sleep ‘neath the safety of stock
Reserved for days of lacking;
Oblivious to the harbinger’s knock
That would soon send order packing.

But I sleep, breathe deep the glorious day
Whether devils ‘neath the bed I can’t say
Eyes drawn heavy start to push away
All whirling thoughts of trouble. I cannot stay

To entertain the monsters of doom
Who dance about inside the room;
When Voice of order speaks in my dream
And cheerful hush lays over the scream


Scheme XXXX ABAB CCCC DDEE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 11110101001 11011011 0001001101 010111011 1111101011 0111110 0100101001 11111010 1111101001 1010101111 111011101 11011101101 10101011 11010101 111101011 010111001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 629
Words 118
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 124
Words per stanza (avg) 28

About this poem

First time listening to Jordan Peterson involved much talk about chaos and order. The yin and the yang and the fine little line in between. Life is made of chaos and order. Too much of chaos and you have despair. To much of order and you have boredom. It is incumbent on each one to navigate that thin line.

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Written on August 28, 2020

Submitted by davidw.81707 on November 28, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
13

David Whitfield

David A Whitfield is a mailman by trade. He writes prose and poetry about life in general. More specifically, he is fascinated by the historical overlay of the downtown area of the city he carries mail in every day. The old buildings and the ancient faces that used to occupy them are a point of much historical research for him. He is currently working on a memoir of sorts that will delve into fun and interesting anecdotes of his over thirty-five year career as a mailman. You can look for his poems here on poetry.com more…

All David Whitfield poems | David Whitfield Books

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