Personification of a Photograph



A photograph visited me today.
It climbed out from beneath the dictionary of songs
Which sits atop my litany desk.
It wore different shades of gray
Monochrome, like his voiceless monotone--a boy.

Girl, you're insane.
You'll take your nickel paper and paint it pale,
Like you always do.
Frame the face of a league of words.
Build a shrine with toothpick beams.

The face smirked at me but did not speak.
I propped him up and begged for him to stay.

Against your bedpost he'll be tacked.
Girl, throw that thought away.
Burn it like a fallen leaf.
With it rake mercurial froth
And watch the bubbles roll astray.

Myriad smoky hues are planted on the page,
A four-by-six rectangular body
Sans heart, sans arms, sans legs.

Blue eyes are empty, wan, and bronze hair stony black.
Distortion feeds the compromise;
The smile is drawn intact.
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Submitted on May 01, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

44 sec read
96

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXAX XXXXX XA BAXXA XXX XXB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 808
Words 146
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 2, 5, 3, 3

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    "Personification of a Photograph" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/81740/personification-of-a-photograph>.

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