Sweet Sixteen




How long must I pace the floor,
worry creasing my brow,
my pulse racing, pounding
to the rhythm of my tormented heart?

How can she not know the anguish
I endure as hours pass unrewarded,
slipping away to pass midnight and beyond
with no phone jingling to relieve
my jangling cat-spring nerves?

Anger builds within me, tempered
with concern, as worry gnaws my mind
with relentless throes of fatherly fear,
my eyes feasting hungrily on the list
of emergency numbers by my phone.

I dial, knuckles white,
while tension and torment give way
to sudden relief and joy
as she suddenly stumbles downstairs,
moving sleepily toward the kitchen,
leaving me gaping, dumbfounded.

I bow my graying head, smiling
as silly Self, up all night frustrated,
angry, scared, worried and all the while
she slept safely above my head.

© 1986
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Submitted on April 21, 2012

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAB XBXXX XXXXX XXXXXX AXXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 793
Words 140
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 5, 5, 6, 4

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