fragmented no. 34



when winter is a length of rain
between skin and bone
, a grey finish   

in cold rivulets
this wet inventory
stops the sun from breathing   

there’s a young man sitting
on a porch
hugging a cigarette

, his expression : all of his
dreams defeated
, heavy eyes , sinking

the rain , a damaged lung asking
for breath : if only to sleep when
it rains

my hands are cold fruit
covered in ice : shivering
puddles at my feet

walking with heads lowered
a man and woman , fragile
as pawns . the heart is like this

: every life is a riddle , riddled
with emotions
, the young man doesn’t know
what to think  

, the man and woman tremble
, the water , a mirror
absorbing their unbearable sorrow  

i avert my eyes , as if forbidden
to look at them
, or to assume their secret     

------------------------------------------------------

first published in: BLUEPEPPER Review

from my 10th book: Broken , poems
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Submitted by DAH on April 21, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
9

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXX AXB BXX AXB BXA XBX XCA XADX CXD XXX X A
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 876
Words 147
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1

DAH

DAH’s poems have been published by editors from the US, UK, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, France, Ireland, Canada, Philippines, Singapore, Africa, Australia, Mauritius, Japan and India. He is a multiple Pushcart nominee, Best Of The Net nominee, and the founding editor for the poetry critique group, The Lounge. DAH lives in Berkeley, California where he is working on the manuscript for his eleventh poetry collection. His poems have appeared in Poetry Now!, Otoliths, The Cape Rock, Straylight Magazine, Acumen Journal, Sandy River Review, Indian River Review, Harbinger Asylum Magazine, Junto Magazine, Mad Swirl Magazine, New Mexico Review, KNOT Literary Magazine, Setu Journal, Fishbowl Press, Tokyo Poetry Journal, and many others. DAH does not hold degrees from any university writing programs, nor from any academic writers workshops. more…

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