The View From Here
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
Cities in the distance look like graveyards
Stone monuments risen
To every living death
Graveyards way up close inside
Look just like little townships
Mark their names and numbers on
Every single stone doorstep
Fog seen from a distance
Might look like clouds
Up inside that fog
It might look like a haze
Up close inside a cloud
It looks just like a fog
Can't see clouds from inside
Change shape throughout the days
You move just like a fog
Out on the coast land
Unseen waves thunder
Sound upon the sand
You feel just like a mist
Out on the sea
Change direction with a breeze
More difficult to see
Than any fog could ever be
Hearts pound just like waves
Upon the coast land
Unseen waves battering
Unsuspecting sand
Clouds change shape by the minute
By the hour by the day
The winds come through and
Blow them all away
Tear gas from a distance
Changes shapes of storm crowds
Might look like fog or smoke
Or a haze out on the sea
Up inside that mist
My eyes get watery
Easier to see
Than you could ever be
You move just like a fog
Out on the coast land
Unseen waves thunder
Sound upon the sand
You feel just like a mist
Out on the sea
Change directions with a breeze
More difficult to see
Than any fog could ever be
Coastlines from a distance
Are full of life and wild
A little further out
Seem so calm and mild
The soothing sound of waves
Nurturing the sand
Sands shifting with the moon
Bring calm upon the land
So hoist them up, let's sail
Straight out into the wind
Batten down the hatches
And ride it out again
I will be the ocean
Up inside the storm
Relentlessly restless
Constant and calm
You move just like a fog
Out on the coast land
Unseen waves thunder
Sound upon the sand
You feel just like a mist
Out on the sea
Change directions with a breeze
More difficult to see
Than any fog could ever be
© John Kennan 11-28-20
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | xaxbxxx cdefxebf EGHGIJkJJ lgxgxmxm cdxjijjj EGHGIJKJJ cnxnlgxg xxxxaxxx EGHGIJKJJ a |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,762 |
Words | 352 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 8, 9, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 9, 1 |
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"The View From Here" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100872/the-view-from-here>.
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