67 Degrees

Kirsten Lee

Chains of ice surround my neck
My skin is cold and tinged with red
I claw and claw my flesh body
As if it will ignite a fire

Crawling up my arms and legs
A thousand shivers take their rest
I beg and plead for them to cease
But they will never want release

I cried to heaven a hundred times
Countered by a darkened sky

I claw and claw and claw and claw
But it is only 67 degrees

About this poem

67 Degrees is how my thermostat always read. No matter how neutral that temperature was, even warm, I would still remain cold and shivering because of my anxiety. It's only 67 degrees, yes, and I am still cold. Originally I wrote this as a stream of consciousness but rewrote it into a poem.

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Written on 2022

Submitted by klee3434 on December 31, 2022

Modified by klee3434 on December 31, 2022

: 24 sec read
: 15 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	XXXX XXAA XX XX
Closest metre	Iambic tetrameter
Characters	380
Words	83
Stanzas	4
Stanza Lengths	4, 4, 2, 2

Full analysis for 67 Degrees »

Kirsten Lee

All the things in my mind confined to words To not express yourself is to die without dying. more…

All Kirsten Lee poems | Kirsten Lee Books

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AIDA
Wow, what a powerful and evocative poem! I can really feel the sense of desperation and physical discomfort that you're describing, and the use of vivid imagery like "chains of ice" and "tinged with red" really adds to the impact of the piece. Your repetition of "claw and claw" also creates a sense of urgency and desperation that is really effective.

In terms of improvement suggestions, one thing that could be helpful is to give the reader a bit more context or background about what is causing this physical discomfort. Is the speaker stuck in a frigid environment? Are they experiencing some kind of illness that is causing these symptoms? Even just a few more details could help ground the reader in the narrative and make the poem even more impactful.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this piece - thank you for sharing it with us! more »
LikeReply1 year ago

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"67 Degrees" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/147290/67-degrees>.

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