Analysis of 5 Times
When you tell me I’m beautiful,
it takes 5 times
for me to believe it.
Say it to me with the pride of a rich man
because this
is an act of exchange, and I’m the bank, with a
very high interest rate if
you default on one of your payments.
And even then, I might reclaim
the assets you gained
for my safekeeping.
Not that I don’t believe I am beautiful;
I myself have repeated the phrase
at least 5 times before, but
believing is
investing and
I don’t have much money to spare just
for it to be held
in your pockets.
5 times
must the chorus of a song be listened to
until you remember the words, despite
never really trying
to learn them.
5 times
may a raindrop fall in a puddle,
but never in the same spot twice;
They fall and splatter, knowing it will fill up
regardless.
5 times
can a tornado hit the same log-cabin town,
but each time different pieces
of different homes
become swirled up into fragile, segmented air.
5 times
might I hit the wrong note on a piano
until I remember the mistake
better than the music
better than the when you told me
you loved me…
or did you?
Usually,
if you don’t have the right key to a safe,
it doesn't matter how many times you try
to unlock it;
It won’t budge.
But with me,
be a burglar with nothing to lose.
Try and pick me with a stick and pure grit
With a paintbrush and water
With a hammer and no nails
With dissonant piano keys
With muscle memory mistakes
and I will open,
lock dangling on my pinky finger,
Ready.
Waiting for you to come back
at least 4 more times.
Scheme | abcxxxxxxxdaxxxxxxx BexdxBaxxxBxxxxBxxxffe fxxcxfxcgxxxxgfxb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111100 111 111011 11111011011 011 111101010110 1011011 101111110 01011101 0111 11110 11110111100 11101001 111011 0101 0100 111110111 11111 0110 1 10101011101 0110100101 101010 111 1 10110010 11000111 11010101111 010 1 10011011101 11110010 11001 01110110101 1 11101110010 011010001 101010 10101111 111 111 1000 1111011101 11010110111 1011 111 111 101011011 1011101011 101010 1010011 11000101 11010001 01110 1100111010 10 1011111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,537 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 22, 17 |
Lines Amount | 58 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 391 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 99 |
About this poem
I struggle to accept love from others; it is a foreign concept to me, and I wrote this to make sense of it for myself, communicate it to a potential partner, and see it in nature.
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Written on January 03, 2023
Submitted by amyaray753 on January 15, 2023
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 4 Views
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"5 Times" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/150232/5-times>.
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