Insanity
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
In a fetal position I waken
On ground so hardened and froze
Why am I bleeding? Why am I bruised?
Where am I? Where are my clothes?
I struggle, try to remember
Find a fig leaf to cover my shame
Wander the forest searching for clues
Amnesty to shroud the blame
Appears a fortress in a clearing
On a hill above a track
Black pearls shine, eyes like diamonds
Diamonds on a diamondback's back
Through the windows of the bars
The bars on her windows
Pearls shine, like beacons, beckon
Distant, hesitant, cautious, I close
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
Drawbridge lowers over a moat
Fortress is cold, of stone
She decides to grant an audience
Where loneliness is shared alone
Echoes as I cross the threshold
The fortress door resounds behind
I search her soft, compelling eyes
Eager, confident, soothing, kind
She nurses weeping, bloody wounds
With tender, gentle, open kiss
The bleeding stops, the bruises heal
Cherished in a cherub's bliss
The beacon beckons in her eyes
Shines through bars, compelling me
Gently, she removes the leaf
Removes the shroud, the mystery
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
She hurts for species endangered
In seas and upon land
But never does she think about
A dagger in the heart of a man
The fangs are bared, the claws come out
On a hill above a track
Her eyes, how they shine and sparkle
Diamonds on a diamondback's back
Is she really so cold and heartless?
I'm afraid, alone, and confused
Wounded, into the woods I run
Cold, naked, bleeding and bruised
Anemic from the loss of blood
Weak, I curl up on the ground
Fade quietly to restfulness
Come deep to sleep, without a sound
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
In a fetal position I waken
On ground so hardened and froze
Why am I bleeding? Why am I bruised?
Where am I? Where are my clothes?
I struggle, try to remember
Find a fig leaf to cover my shame
Wander the forest searching for clues
Amnesty to shroud the blame
Appears a fortress in a clearing...
© John Kennan 4-27-14
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 2:03 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCDEFGF HIxIxbax BJKJ xlxlxmnm xoxonjxj BJKJ xxpxpIxI xcacxqbq BJKJ ABCDEFGF H a |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,142 |
Words | 403 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 4, 8, 8, 4, 8, 8, 4, 8, 1, 1 |
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"Insanity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100755/insanity>.
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