Sparks We Knew
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
Flames tango below a mantle
Where sprites and faeries play
Unscripted in ballet slippers
Unhindered by a stage
A forest fire in a black dress
Dances on sizzling coals
Burns to lyrics in a song
Makes coffee in slippered soles
Conflagration on a dance floor
Hip-huggers fuel the arc
Passionate winds fuel the kindling
There's plenty of wood for that spark
Dancing eyes stir coals inside
A candle won't always discern
You flicker well but what the hell
Some babies never learn
The souls in our ballet slippers
Burn with plantar fasciitis
The sparks we knew within our shoes
No longer ignite us
It's cold here in the morning
Even the coffeemaker froze
The ashes are all iced over
I'm numb down to my toes
Ice on the street just cuts my feet
And causes my sole to bleed
I'm gonna limp over to market
Is there anything you need?
Children skate on rivers
Where we used to write poetry
Where anglers used to cast for rainbows
Now we barbecue memories
Lovers glide together
In a tango on the ice
Hip-huggers on a dance floor
Fire dancing in your eyes
The souls in our ballet slippers
Burn with plantar fasciitis
The sparks we knew within our shoes
No longer ignite us
© John Kennan 3-14-21
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | xxaxxbxb cdedxfxf AAGH eijixkxk axixjxcx AAGH x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,144 |
Words | 215 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 4, 8, 8, 4, 1 |
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"Sparks We Knew" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100894/sparks-we-knew>.
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