One of Fifteen
A mask hangs on the wall
of my apartment.
It's lived there a long time,
much longer than the others, with their
blue-green-gray faces of pulled smiles
and stripped cheeks.
This one has watched the longest;
it scares my girlfriend.
Bought in another lifetime in a Mexican bazaar
when I laughed as a child and wore my own flesh.
Straw hair and snakeskin beard,
rectangle mouth and upturned horns that cut and draw a lover's blood,
It sees but cannot breathe.
I try not to wear it anymore,
but it hangs there still.
Font size:
Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 10, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 6 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 498 |
Words | 93 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 7 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"One of Fifteen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/81046/one-of-fifteen>.
Discuss the poem One of Fifteen with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In