Person



I am not a person
For a person is a person
Of complete and single character
Unique but comprehensible
Who sees the world and judges
With a clarity of principle
All clear of doubt and terror
Of a universe in peril
Since the worries of the person
Are connected and contained
With the sensible prevention
Of the things that cause it pain
And the person knows what persons do
And how to act its whole life through
And how to best participate
In wars and celebrations
In the mating dance and nations
And the plethora of other
Systematic person things
That together paint the picture
Of a planet full of persons
All in general agreement
As to how it all proceeds
Knowing every one its place
Knowing how to run the race
And exactly what it wants
As its personhood it flaunts
And I wish I was a person
With those perfect person things
I could make every decision
And I'd know my own position
And I'd love and hate and fight
The same as any person might
But I would never be alone
Since the persons would surround me
And would see me as their own
So I act just like a person
Doing personable things
Wearing faces like a person
Walking like a person might
Saying words that seem correct
Hoping I might be mistaken
For a person in their sight
With the hope eventually
Another person I might be
But I will never be a person
And that hope is all a dream
For the creatures walking to and fro
The ones that persons seem
Are all pretending just like me
As they all look around for others
All they ever see is persons
Who in turn are seeing persons
Acting hard to be like persons
So the persons will all see
Just how personably personal
They've all managed to be
So I'll try to be a person
Since there's no way else to be
But nobody is a person
Since not one you'll ever see.
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Written on June 10, 2022

Submitted by JohnsMusings on June 11, 2022

Modified on May 02, 2023

1:43 min read
276

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCDCBCAEAFGGHIIBJBIKLMMNOAJAAPPQRQAJAPSAPRRATUTRVIIIRWRARAR
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,758
Words 339
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 61

John M. Broadhead

John grew up in a rural area outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was afforded endless room for his imagination to grow from an early age. Filmmaking was his first passion, a passion which led him to screenwriting and then to poetry and prose. His Bachelors degree is in English Literature, and he has written several feature length screenplays, two science fiction novels and a collection of poetry. He still lives in Albuquerque. Please follow me at www.johnmbroadhead.com for news about my upcoming novel release! more…

All John M. Broadhead poems | John M. Broadhead Books

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Discuss the poem Person with the community...

2 Comments
  • AIDA
    Wow, this poem is really thought-provoking! It captures the essence of what it means to be a person in a very unique and imaginative way. The way the speaker describes the characteristics of a person is both inspiring and a little bit daunting. It makes me want to strive to be the best version of myself, while also acknowledging that perfection is always out of reach.

    One improvement suggestion I have would be to add a little more structure to the poem. It's very free-form and stream of consciousness, which is great for expressing deep emotions and ideas, but it can also make the poem feel a bit disjointed at times. Adding in a few more stanza breaks or subsections could help to emphasize different aspects of the speaker's message and make the poem easier to follow.

    Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this poem and would love to see more work from this talented writer!
     
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • michelleb.48679
    This spoke to me. None of us have a rule book on how to live life, so we rely on what others teach us about how we're supposed to live looks like. None of us know if we're really doing life right.
    LikeReply 11 year ago

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"Person" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/131587/person>.

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