Analysis of Painting Salvadora
We used to dance badly on the hardwood floor
to a tiny white phonograph adorned
with cartoon faces in primary colors
spinning thrift store records with mismatched covers.
We painted each other's faces the first time we kissed;
I brushed her cheek with fingers,
she tinted mine with lips.
In a dream, I named her Sally, short for Salvadora,
who likes to dance badly on the hardwood floor.
We used to paint pictures in the room downstairs.
There was a black and white photograph of her
grandmother at age twenty--it could have been Sally
in a dark wig and glasses.
I would have remade Grandma in paint, had we lasted.
Now, though I still sing her song, sometimes I choke on her name,
while some nights, in dreams,
I still call her Sally, short for Salvadora,
who used to dance badly on the hardwood floor.
Scheme | ABCCDCEAAFGHIJKLAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101011 101011001 1011001010 10110110110 1101101001111 1101110 110111 00111010111 1111101011 11111000111 1101011010 101110111110 0011010 1110110011110 11111010111101 11101 111010111 1111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 786 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 636 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 145 |
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Submitted on May 02, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 2 Views
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"Painting Salvadora" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/81429/painting-salvadora>.
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