Analysis of Counterbalance
Counterbalance
--------------
Be-
wild-
ered as
to why
floorboards cry louder on
birthdays when the baby’s
sleeping. They must feel
weight of year’s travails.
Another dawn, again
& again, new. Days take over;
the unforgiving bright holding
old decisions to
greet body at day—
break. Shadow:
a part of me—
apart of me.
second self haunting
earth.
Every step, foot-
falls louder.
Of all the eaves,
awnings,
and ends,
that grey between of
journey’s precipice
is the ineffable
fate of all: slipping past
edge to black
swallow.
Limbs toward light;
a subtle rage against that gentle
passing.
Scheme | A BXXXXAXX X CDXXEBBDX XCXAXXXFXXE XFD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100 1 1 1 11 11 11101 1101 10111 11101 010101 0111110 00010110 10101 11011 11 0111 0111 10110 1 10011 110 1101 1 01 11011 10100 100100 111101 111 10 1011 010101110 10 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 929 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 8, 1, 9, 11, 3 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 13 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 75 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
About this poem
This piece focuses on the struggle between a woman trying to home onto her independence and youth while recognizing she is a Mother and must make better choices for her child. It’s also a realization of her own mortality, in acceptance of her aging and new parental responsibilities; the loss of her care-free child like decisions she once had.
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Written on June 04, 2019
Submitted by Albinosquirrel444 on May 09, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
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"Counterbalance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/129108/counterbalance>.
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