Lightning Switch
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
Lightning Switch
Lightning wears a striking mask
The deepest blue I ever knew
Lights white the night, takes its flight
If only it had stayed as long as you
A scar shaped like a lightning bolt
Thunder echoes, calls the blue
But blue is unresponsive now
If only it had stayed as brief as you
Tell the thunder to shut its mouth
Stick your finger in the socket
Prepare yourself for the scars it leaves
Or keep your hands inside your pockets
Before the lightning switch, we danced
And danced in the switch thereafter
It left a scar shaped like a smile
And the thundering of laughter
Call down lightning to a high-wire act
Balance a tightrope telephone line
Vampire electrodes in the neck
Leave telling scars in their design
Tell the thunder to shut its mouth
Stick your finger in the socket
Prepare yourself for the scars it leaves
Or keep your hands inside your pockets
The pain of that scar has healed now
But sparks shoot from my eyes
Hearts generate a gigahertz
The tip of a tongue electrifies
This jerking highwire dance we do
High voltage, spasmodically
Takes its flight with a fingertip flip
So dance me on, love, switch with me
Tell the thunder to shut its mouth
Stick your finger in the socket
Prepare yourself for the scars it leaves
Or keep your hands inside your pockets
© John Kennan 3-12-14
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on April 04, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 9 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | xaxa xaba CDEF xgxg xhxh CDEF biei ajxj CDEF x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,280 |
Words | 236 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
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"Lightning Switch" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100789/lightning-switch>.
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