Analysis of Crocodile Tears
Je Woo Han 2000 (Seoul)
The boardwalk surfaces and the dock dries
Retreating to the creature's snout
the tired visitors land
Flocking to rest on that craggily face
Enjoying salty treats.
The rainbow petals yawn slowly
Creaking open, blinking on occasion
laden heavy with velleity and the morning dew
The lonely girl knows not to move,
She dared not scare away the attention.
Dead bark for skin, slick with green mildew
Years of neglect and hiding in the dark
Could she be beautiful?
Her tears are of relief
of doubt
of joy
For a moment all is still, as that jagged place grew flowers.
Like a garland bow most gently placed, atop a newborn’s head.
The Archerfish spots the flutter of painted targets.
Incites doom with a jet of water
Finding its mark, dead center.
So all returned to their ways, back to the nature of things.
The butterflies frantically flew away
The fish violently became prey
The dear caiman sighed the longest of sighs
Slinking deeper into the slimy bayou to sulk once more.
Blinking away the pain, with no more tears left to shed.
Scheme | ABXXX XCDXC DXX XBXXE XFF XGGA XE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011000011 0101011 0101001 10111111 010101 0110110 1010101010 10101100101 01011111 1111010010 11111111 1101010001 111100 011101 11 11 10101111111110 10101110101011 01101011010 011101110 1011110 11011111101011 0101000101 011000011 011101011 11001010101111 1001011111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,045 |
Words | 203 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 3, 5, 3, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 27 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
About this poem
I wrote this poem after being inspired by viewing an image of multi-colored butterflies resting on a crocodile to drink it. Apparently, their tears help them get rid of the excess salt they consume. While the butterflies like to drink it, as the minerals they contain are often a rare commodity in the natural world. A fascinating case of symbiosis.
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"Crocodile Tears" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/175210/crocodile-tears>.
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