Analysis of in anticipation

Kim Briggeman 1955 (Deer Lodge, Montana)



When you see your first buttercup – oh! heresy! –pick it.

Hold it in your palm. Notice what your hand looks like.
Consider it against broken clouds, the history of your town,
war.

Questions:
Sixteen galaxies away, would your buttercup mean the same?     

Did Jesus pick the “little frogs” in hills above Nazareth,
run home to organize with stubby fingers
in an earthen vessel for Mom?

Or young Schweitzer, in the Alsace-Lorraine --
Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben -
even then the seeds germinating toward
charged and tortured reverence of life?

What about Quixote?
Did he pick buttercups before he got the rap?

Beelzebub, until he got too fat?

Pluck a petal.  Feel remorse?
Would a second make it easier?

Every part of a buttercup is toxic:
the green refuge of sepals,
each he-man stamen brandishing
its torch of pollen sacs,
even the glossy petals, five or,
rarely, six, unvarnished in their
waxen star-struck power.

Ingestion of too many can cause colic,
diarrhea, hypocrisy or insight.
Too few and you’ll find yourself
right back at the top of this poem.


Scheme X AXB CX XXX XXXX XX X XD XCXXBXD AXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110110011 110111011111 0101011010100111 1 10 01100011110101 110101010101100 1111011010 01101011 1110000101 11110 10101101 101010011 101010 11110011101 1011111 1010101 101011100 10011010110 011011 1111100 111101 100101011 10101001 11110 0101110111 010010011 1101101 111011110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,133
Words 209
Sentences 18
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 1, 3, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 2, 7, 4
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 82
Words per stanza (avg) 18

About this poem

Inspired years ago by March in Montana.

Font size:
 

Submitted by klbrig on April 09, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:02 min read
3

Kim Briggeman

Western Montana native, retired newspaperman. more…

All Kim Briggeman poems | Kim Briggeman Books

1 fan

Discuss this Kim Briggeman poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "in anticipation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/124534/in-anticipation>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    18
    hours
    32
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Shall I compare thee to a summer's _______?
    A day
    B night
    C ray
    D dream