Analysis of Reflection
Todd Vanisacker 1969 (Michigan)
I had made it
a life-long policy,
to put others
before myself.
I never said no,
or voiced my opinion,
preferring to go along
with what others
wanted.
I thought this
would make me popular,
make other people
like me,
and call me friend.
I was wrong.
I was used,
but not accepted,
not speaking up for myself
diminished me
in the eyes or people.
I withdrew within myself,
felt myself fading away,
until one day
I looked in the mirror…
and saw nothing looking back.
I had given myself away
until there was nothing left,
I had sacrificed my
sense of self-worth
in return for handfuls
of nothingness.
I damned myself for a fool
as I stared into
that empty piece of glass.
But…
it was not entirely empty.
Faintly,
so faintly
there was a dim reflection,
the merest shadow
of what I once was.
It was not too late,
I was not entirely gone.
Maybe I could save myself,
return to the person
I once was,
or at least thought I was.
I could put myself first,
not in a rude way,
not by imposing my will
on others,
but by simply
being true to myself.
By not letting people
walk all over me,
as if I do not exist.
I do exist,
I do matter,
and when I can see
myself again,
I hope I like
what I see.
Scheme | ABCDEFGCHIJKBLGMNDBKDOOJPOQRSTUVWXYBBBFEZ1 2 DFZZ3 O4 CBDKB5 5 JB6 7 B |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111 011100 1110 011 11011 111010 0101101 1110 10 111 111100 11010 11 0111 111 111 11010 110111 0101 001110 101011 111001 0111 110010 0110101 1110101 0111101 11101 1111 00111 1100 111101 11101 110111 1 111010010 10 110 1101010 0101 11111 11111 11101001 101111 011010 111 111111 11111 10011 1101011 110 1110 10111 111010 11101 1111101 1101 1110 01111 101 1111 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,123 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 62 |
Lines Amount | 62 |
Letters per line (avg) | 15 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 905 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 232 |
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"Reflection" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/96820/reflection>.
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