Analysis of You takin' Me back to chicago, or not?



Born at St. Anne's near northwest side, five miles from the Lake
In a warm summer breeze in mid August, birth pangs not fake
I was ready on the 27th day of the eighth month, 51 into the 20th
Years to be in the sixth decade of nights and days, waitin' for death.

Do not get me wrong, hey, I don't want to stop being alive
Since I can remember anything from my first decade here
I saw many young and old people at their wakes and funerals
The love and life from their skin and bones, exit to fame's halls.

Playin' chess on the streets and alleys, in the gang ways of darkness
I saw you but you didn't see me at all, I was invisible but all business
I'm wakin' you up now from your nightmare in a utero nut
Get crackin' and open up your core, your heart, feel your inner gut.

Chicago, New York, L.A. or Seattle are great spaces to settle
Middle inner city or a suburban cul-de-sac rockin' to heavy metal
Mothers raisin' taxpayers to pay for the handouts they consume
Educate, divide, re-align and counter revolt a maniacle doom.

Drop me off at O'Hare and I'll hitch a ride from 53 to Harlem
I can walk two miles and get to my daddy's place near Irving Park
As I walk up the wrong way on a one way street, I'm bloody shot
Sniper kicked my soul in the chops, one to the temple, 2 in a heart.

by
RICHARD JOSEPH STEPHAN
c. April 29, 2015 Wednesday @ 4:11 PM
( written listenin' to Chicago hits, "Policeman" et al on YouTube @ https://youtu.be/mP8Pc0_yz6I )


Scheme AAXX XXXX BBCC DDEE XXXX FXXF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (33%)
Metre 111111111101 00110101101111 111010111101101011 111001011101111 111111111111001 11101010111011 1110101101110100 01011110110111 111010100011110 111111011111101001110 11111111001001 110101111111101 0111110101110110 10101010010111111010 10101011101101 100110101001011 111101011011110 1111101111011101 1111011101111101 1011100111010001 1 101010 1101011 101101101011111111111
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 1,426
Words 284
Sentences 11
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 46
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 185
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on April 30, 2015

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:27 min read
4

Richard Stephan

I trip on the light fantastic, from the northside of Chicago to the northside of California, i'm nationwide & worldwide...all in my own tiny mind. Enjoy the day, the week, viva la loca! S M I L E always... ;-) P L E A S E FEEL FREE TO COPY & PASTE my personal blog spot *PHILOSOPHIA* LINK into your Blue Jeans or Browsers@ www.rjjstephan.blogspot.com more…

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    "You takin' Me back to chicago, or not?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/92057/you-takin%27-me-back-to-chicago%2C-or-not%3F>.

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