The Death of the most Pronounceable Word

Emmalynn 2003 (California)

Ode


It is now, in this unwanted advance,
in this honorable game of chess;
that the most pronounceable word
the unopposable decree of checkmate—
of noncompliance—
is the most intimidating announcement.
As the slow crescendo of a mournful piano
hypnotically enforces tone, it was
as normal as turning the volume up,
inoffensive compliments thrown into the conversation;
as ignorable as a pillow moved, laundry swept under the bed.
 Paranoia—of course—
had brought such encouragingly unnoticeable
 actions to attention, a supernova
of dazzling cannon fire
and the memory of poisonous, scarring hands.
But desperate to feel normal,
to not think the worst because surely—surely-
this time wouldn’t be another burn,
another searing slap.
It was unwanted, unobstructed,
inescapable as his demeanor changed.
Always the same smile; that cannot
express care nor caution,
perfectly assured in its nonverbal
noxious assumptions.
The word i have known
since i was a child, had used daily, now
burns behind two pairs of lips
tracing unnoticed fire down my thighs,
trailing in the sweat from my brow.
The monologue is inescapable,
noisily condemning my
inoffensive wishes, my frozen lips
that cracked with the knowledge I had assumed
would not fail me in the most
dishonorable situations.
Yet here,
there
and now
 it lay unused, unnoticed, unobtainingly
frozen in the snow that poured from my clouds
Of relative noviceness and naivete.  
It is the unnotable, common
normality
in the death of the most pronounceable word.

About this poem

As someone who has constant experience with my consent being violated, I wanted to write a poem about the word No without actually being able to say it, as I often find myself doing in real life. Almost every line has the word No in it hidden inside another word, it wont let me bold them as i did in my docs.

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Written on April 26, 2022

Submitted by emmalynnerard on April 28, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:18 min read
0

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPMMQRSTUJMVWXYZXM1 Y2 3 V4 5 XM6 7 J8 C
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,522
Words 262
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 46

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    "The Death of the most Pronounceable Word" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/126591/the-death-of-the-most-pronounceable-word>.

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