Analysis of Strafed by snipers, still standing in Yugoslavia.*
Doug Blair 1951 (London)
She hangs her laundry
From wrought iron balcony.
Bullet strafings mark
The white-washed brick.
Neighbour down the hall.
Almost curtains yesterday.
As he hiked empty streets.
To the bakery.
Open Wednesdays and Fridays.
If rifle fire not too bad.
Along the baker’s route.
Town become just a bunch
Of trembling hide-outs.
Central open market closed.
After mass shootings one Saturday.
Twenty one lost.
Just standing in line.
Counting their coins.
Empty concert hall
Swings and sandboxes.
Public garden plots
Full of garbage.
Their beloved City.
Under daily fire.
From those rebellious Hills.
Can’t even imagine
The extent of it.
Her line of laundry
Shows the only bright colours.
Bless the Woman.
Two kids inside.
Thinking of Dad, out there.
* the former name of this ravaged district.
| Scheme | A A X X B X C A X X X X X X A X X X B C X X A X X D X A C D X X X |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11010 1110100 1011 0111 1101 11010 111101 10100 101010 11010111 010101 101101 110011 1010101 101101100 1011 11001 1011 10101 101 10101 1110 10110 101010 110101 110010 00111 01110 101011 1010 1101 101111 0101111010 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 930 |
| Words | 210 |
| Sentences | 30 |
| Stanzas | 33 |
| Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
| Lines Amount | 33 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
| Words per line (avg) | 4 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 19 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 4 |
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Written on February 09, 2023
Submitted by dougb.21370 on February 09, 2023
Modified by dougb.21370 on February 09, 2023
- 1:03 min read
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"Strafed by snipers, still standing in Yugoslavia.*" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/151158/strafed-by-snipers%2C-still-standing-in-yugoslavia.%2A>.
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