Analysis of The Sale

Ken Mills 1962 (Trinidad)



Blood creeps behind the counter through a crack in the floor
To my hiding place
It is not my blood but it could have been.
If I was taller, blacker, different, shorter, paler, richer, poorer
It would have still been my blood.
But it isn't
None of those things matter to the hateful hatefilled
Only the blood on the floor matters
It flows stiffly along getting in the cracks and crevices stinking of metal
Staining the floor and the carpets
The shoe was leather, is leather
Might have been comfortable but that is not important now.
What is important is the blood so red and thick
Could be anyone's
It is not mine
Not yet.
Bullets are color blind
Bullets are not racist
Bullets are not prejudiced
Bullets just do not care
They do their masters will
That is to kill kill kill
I only came for that damn sale on shoes
50% off it said
That was a really good price
Cashier wont be taking my card
His head is missing
Blown away by the brutality of the day
So here I am hiding behind the counter
waiting to pay
Listening to death as it does its thing.
Wondering if I have any credit upstairs
Haven't prayed in a while
But I am praying now
For what?
More time maybe. Spared life
I just want to live
The blood has reached my face resting on the floor
I dare not move
It is not my blood
Not yet.


Scheme abcdefeghidjklmNopqrsstuvwxydyxz1 j2 3 4 a5 en
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010101001 11101 1111111111 11110101001011010 1111111 1110 11111010101 100110110 11100110001010010110 10010010 01110110 111100011110101 110101011101 1110 1111 11 101101 101110 1011100 101111 111101 111111 1101111111 111 1101011 01111011 11110 101100100101 11111001010 1011 1001111111 100111101001 101001 111101 11 111011 11111 01111110101 1111 11111 11
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,286
Words 257
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 41
Lines Amount 41
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,017
Words per stanza (avg) 249

About this poem

Poem was inspired by the frequent random acts of violence. The point of view is that of a potential victim

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Written on February 26, 2023

Submitted by kenm.09646 on February 26, 2023

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:18 min read
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