Analysis of The Inch Between Us
Stacey Powells 1959 (Los Angeles)
The Inch Between Us – Poem
I put my hand up
You put your hand up
That inch
Of glass
That inch
Between us
Do you remember
Can you remember
When you heard my heart
From the inside
Beating you into existence
Thumping you into life
Hockey player
Check
Skier
Check
Snowboarder
Check
Paintball expert
Check
Genius
Check
…Meth Addict
…Check
Exhausted, beat down
You looked
Not like you
Not like my son
Not like the brother
The brother he needs
Not like that father
The father she needs
You looked
Through me
Around me
At me
But not really
Glaring
Mad as a Hatter
Crazy
Methed-out
Drugs
Fucking hate, them
Really. Fucking. Hate. Those. Drugs.
Addiction fueled you
Addiction took you
Addiction cheated you
Cheated me
Cheated those you loved
Who loved you
Broke … our … hearts
Really. Hate. Addiction.
I was numb
I was a mother
I am your mother
I was in disbelief
I wanted to vomit
I wanted to scream
I needed to rewind
Rewind the clock
Rewind our life
Only an inch
So very close
But not
Not really
They say you did that
They say you did
They say you
They say
They
Them
With their uniforms
With their guns
With their judgements
With their paperwork
With their cells
With their law
With their proof
“I am the mother!”
I wanted to scream
“I am the mother!”
This fucking bad dream
“I am his mother!”
Fucking unreal
“I am your mother!”
Years behind bars
What will you …
Can you …
… reveal?
On the other side of that glass
You pulled and picked
You paced and swayed
You tried to be you
But the drug
That fucking drug
Still had its way
With you
Around you
In You
You spit and twirl
You grasped and gasped
Then
That moment came
Your focus returned
Split second
Then you sat
In front of me
And looked
Back to me
Back at me
Back with me
Eyes black no more
Hearts open
I put my hand up
You put your hand up
The glass
That inch
So much heat and energy and love and heartache
Between that inch
Of glass
Between us
| Scheme | a BBCDCE ffxxxg fHxHfHxHeHiH xJklfmfm Jnnnnxfnxop okkknxkxl afFxxQxxgcxxn rxkssp xxxxxxx FQFqftFxkkt dixkuuskkk xxxxxxrnjnnnxl BBdCxcDE |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 0101110 11111 11111 11 11 11 011 11010 11010 11111 1001 10101010 101011 1010 1 1 1 10 1 110 1 10 1 101 1 01011 11 111 1111 11010 01011 11110 01011 11 11 011 11 1110 10 11010 10 11 1 1011 1010111 010101 01011 010101 101 10111 111 1101 101010 111 11010 11110 11001 110110 11011 110110 1001 10101 1011 1101 11 110 11111 1111 111 11 1 1 1110 111 1110 1110 111 111 111 11010 11011 11010 11011 11110 1001 11110 1011 111 11 01 10101111 1101 1101 11111 101 1101 1111 11 011 01 1101 1101 1 1101 11001 110 111 0111 01 111 111 111 1111 110 11111 11111 01 11 11101000101 0111 11 011 |
| Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
| Characters | 1,941 |
| Words | 392 |
| Sentences | 14 |
| Stanzas | 14 |
| Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 12, 8, 11, 9, 13, 6, 7, 11, 10, 14, 8 |
| Lines Amount | 122 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 12 |
| Words per line (avg) | 3 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
About this poem
The first time I saw my adult son in jail, there was an inch of glass between us. Chrystal Meth messed up his life. He lost everything. I was enraged and terrified, heartbroken and when he put his hand up on the glass and then I followed, my world came crashing down.
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Written on August 08, 2022
Submitted by highaltitudemama on August 30, 2022
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:57 min read
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"The Inch Between Us" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/136800/the-inch-between-us>.
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