Analysis of Jaffa



Yesterday
the sun set very early
on the sea of your life
sunk in the hills and vallies of Ramallah.

Today
you arrived in Jaffa
where maybe the sun will never set
letting you enjoy the sea
of another life drying up the salt of the sea
in which your grandparents swam
tired with the memories of the Nakba.

Everyday
you cleanse them with the scent
of the blossoms and the jasmine buds.

Forever
let this sea glitter in the silence


Scheme ABXC ACXBBXX AXX XX
Poetic Form
Metre 10 0111010 101111 1001011010 01 101010 110011101 1010101 1010110101101 011101 1010100101 101 111101 101000101 010 111100010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 431
Words 89
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 7, 3, 2
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 86
Words per stanza (avg) 20

About this poem

This poem was inspired after viewing the film "The Salt of the Sea" by Palestinian-American poet Sauheir Hammad.

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Written on February 18, 2022

Submitted by john.portelli on February 18, 2024

26 sec read
46

John P. Portelli

John P. Portelli is a Maltese-Canadian author and professor emeritus University of Toronto. Author of 27 books including 8 poetry collections, 2 collections of short stories, and a novel. See www.johnpportelli.com more…

All John P. Portelli poems | John P. Portelli Books

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