Analysis of Spiral Staircase
Sarah Brower 1995 (New Jersey)
At the top
Of a twisted staircase
Looking down
At the bottom step
The first step I take
I feel the tension rise
My toes cringe
My hands clam
My mind
A broken flashlight
Down another step I go
And I feel a rush
Through my veins
That person
I always avoided
Is now haunting
Me
I hurt her deeply
Thoughtless words
Stabbing knives
I punctured her stability
Half way down
My body has calmed
Stopping on that middle step
I take a seat
With a breath
Continuing down
The spiral steps
Third to last step
I look behind
How far I came
Braver than I thought
Why dwell on
That very first step
It's all behind me
Said and done
This is it
I reached the bottom
I smiled and thought
Well done
I climbed my mountains
And yes it was hard
But with effort
And fearlessness
I won
Scheme | XABC XXXXDX XXX EXXF FXXF BXCXXBX CDXG XCFE XXGE XXXAE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (53%) |
Metre | 101 10101 101 10101 01111 110101 111 111 11 0101 1010111 01101 111 110 11010 1110 1 11010 101 101 11000100 111 11011 1011101 1101 101 01001 0101 1111 1101 1111 10111 111 11011 11011 101 111 11010 1101 11 11110 01111 1110 01 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 778 |
Words | 171 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 3, 4, 4, 7, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 13 |
Words per line (avg) | 3 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 61 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 15 |
About this poem
This poem is about self discovery through the chaos and imperfections. Without allowing oneself to get in the way.
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"Spiral Staircase" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/175572/spiral-staircase>.
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