Analysis of damaged Goods



In summer sun’s sagacious rays
A butterfly with ragged wings
Settled on the sidewalk
In search of food or rest or other things
Slow, strolling steps brought me to her side that day

Her wings were slowly yawning to and fro
I saw the ragged edges marred
A predator had tried to take her life
She got away but bore the scars
Now she flies erratically, and slow

But ah, her colors shimmered so!
Blue purer than the air
In the sun, sparkled like a million atom stars
Yellow so shy it was hardly there
Emerald splashed like strokes by Michelangelo

They froze my gait
And captured my eyes
’Til I was lost in a universe
Of delicate size
And majestic fate

I held my breath
My throat grew tight
I fell in love
With the spirit’s fight
To live beyond its brush with death

Feelings tumbled from my breast
If I could only paste a part of my soul
On her wing to repair its ragged loss
I gladly would, to make her whole
Who more than measure, she had blessed
But hope and want rarely comply
With harsh reality
Or the step of time
Nor can beauty cure insanity Or heart enfold a butterfly

So I stood entranced by her beauty there
And caught the spirit of her bravery
Though torn and damaged goods
She was the loveliest butterfly I shall ever see Her injury made her only all the more fair

She could not have known how much I cared
We both were bound by destiny
The moment passed as moments do
And then she flew away from me
Fluttering and stumbling through the air


Scheme XAXAX BXXCB BDCDB EFXFE GHXHG IJXJIKLXK DLXD XLXLD
Poetic Form
Metre 010111 0101101 10101 0111111101 11011110111 0101010101 11010101 0100111101 11011101 111010001 11010101 110101 001101010101 101111101 101111010 1111 01011 11110010 11001 00101 1111 1111 1101 10101 11011111 1010111 11110101111 1011011101 11011101 11110111 11011001 1110 10111 1110101001101010 1110110101 0101010100 110101 11011011101010010101011 111111111 11011100 01011101 01110111 1000100101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,475
Words 290
Sentences 2
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 9, 4, 5
Lines Amount 43
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 145
Words per stanza (avg) 35

About this poem

only a metaphore

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Written on May 25, 1999

Submitted by steve-edwards on April 18, 2022

Modified on May 01, 2023

1:27 min read
915

William Stephen Edwards

William Stephen Edwards was raised on a dryland cotton farm in West Texas. He holds a BA in English (1965) and an MS in Speech/Language Pathology and Audiology (1972) from Texas Tech University. Mr. Edwards is a decorated Vietnam veteran and is divorced, with two daughters. Currently he is a retired Speech/Language Pathologist living in Austin, Texas. more…

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