Analysis of The Prevailing Flag
It was just a year ago when the breeze whispered, when the duets of sparrows and blue jays were heard, when the cloudless skies devoid of contrails hugged the wheat fields soon burned.
Hesitantly, I tip toed to the piano, my wrist shaken, my fingers curved back. My fingertips skimmed both keys—the gun powder white and oil black.
Closing my eyes, my parent’s Kyiv apartment, blood red brick appeared. It was a square once crowded, but now even crickets cleared.
As I refocus my foot on the pedal and blindly place my hands, the melodies hold one another so each note rings their voice. My fingers danced to the melody of Ukraine, the great Chervona Ruta we sat around the camp fire and rejoiced.
Although outside, the whispers became taunts and screams, our flag stood sturdy on its pole. The unity in its pieces held it through whatever toll.
As these same sparrows launched themselves at the blue and gold fabric, I realized that they only clawed a minute hole.
Scheme | X X X X A A |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111010110110100111001101101010111101111 10001111001011101101111011101101011 101111010101110111011101110101 110101110100101110100110101111111101101001010111011010110001 1110100110110111011101000110111101 111101011010110110111010101 |
Characters | 984 |
Words | 180 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 6 |
Letters per line (avg) | 128 |
Words per line (avg) | 29 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 128 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
About this poem
I wrote this poem to honor the prevailing strength of Ukraine through the conflict. It shows the dynamic shift of two birds, blue jay and sparrow (symbolizing the close cultural relations of both Ukraine and Russia), drift apart from one another. It also accounts the emotions and reactions of my parents and I when the escalation of our homeland was first broadcasted. I tell my reaction through figurative movements of my piano, which is a way I channel my emotions.
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"The Prevailing Flag" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/166211/the-prevailing-flag>.
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