Belongings
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
I dreamt the unwakeable days
Awake through undreamable nights
Saw through unseeable visions
Envisioned unseeable sights
Did the most unspeakable thoughts
Spoke the most undoable schemes
Killed an unlivable nightmare
Just to live the undieable dream
Devoured all the fruits of my youth
Till youth decayed away my ripe
Smoked unpipeable pipedreams
My dreams disappeared down the pipes
It may be I'm worse for the wear
But I've worn through the worst, by God
Even though odds never were even
I was beaten even by odds
Locks and latches and doorknobs
All have been stolen from me
Closets and pantries and attics robbed
Ah, but I still have the key
You're never gonna steal me from
What it is that I am, you see
This unstealable heart isn't mine
I no longer belong to me
I rode straight up into the wind
Winding bent by her curves on the road
Loaded my cannons with fire
Graced with such a burdensome load
Served all my desires but a wish
Is such a cruel master to serve
Thought I deserved better but best not wish
For what it is I think I deserve
I laughed all night at the demons
The demons ain't mourning for me
If you ain't nailed down they'll nail you up
Up is where I'd rather be
It must be free if it don't cost
The cost of a freedom to be
If it's free then I ain't for sale
You can't buy me 'cause I'm already free
Locks and latches and doorknobs
All have been stolen from me
Closets, pantries and attics all robbed
Ah, but I still have the key
You're never gonna steal me from
What it is that I am, you see
This unstealable heart isn't mine
I no longer belong to me
© John Kennan 10-22-20
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:35 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | abcbxxdx xxaxdxxx EFgFHFIF xjxjklkl cfxfxfxf EFgFHFIF x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,550 |
Words | 303 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 1 |
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"Belongings" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100867/belongings>.
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