Analysis of First Date

Alan Cook 1938 (Buffalo, New York)



"Look what the postman brought,"
you told me afterward you said
as I walked by your window,
bleary-eyed from want of bed.
Kind words, and kinder still
the cup of coffee that you gave
me to clear up my fuzzy head,
the product of my last free night,
although I didn't know it then.
Computer-matched, we'd corresponded
for some weeks with thoughtful pen,
hoping to escape from ordinary people
playing at the dating game,
me from women, you from men.
We chatted, sensed each other's rhythms;
a gorgeous day, what should we do?
What better way to be outdoors
than at the San Diego Zoo?
The drive, two hours long, gave us
a chance to talk some more, bypassing
ploys of newly-mets because we knew
each other better after minutes
than do many after years.
We strolled, were holding hands when we arrived
at sea-lion pools, forgetting former fears
and dead romances, for we sensed
one must be set to answer yes
when opportunity appears.
You sparkled; I outdid myself;
we walked along La Jolla's cliffs,
enjoyed a dinner by the sea
and setting sun, inhaled the whiffs
of ocean secrets, living for
the moment and ignoring all
the pesky buts and ifs.
The drive back to LA was happy
and in tune, a musical duet.
We kissed at your front door and I
was gone, but we will not forget
that day and all that grew from it;
the seed of love was planted then;
the grown tree blossoms yet.


Scheme ABCBDEBFGHGIJGKLMLNOLPQRQSTQUVWKXYVWZ1 Z2 GZ
Poetic Form
Metre 110101 11110011 1111110 1011111 110101 01110111 11111101 01011111 1110111 01011010 1111101 10101110010 1010101 1110111 110111010 01011111 11011111 11010101 01110111 01111110 111010111 110101010 1110101 1101011101 11101010101 01010111 11111101 1010001 110111 1101111 01010101 01010101 11010101 01000101 010101 01111110 001010001 11111101 11111101 11011111 01111101 011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,366
Words 271
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 42
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,069
Words per stanza (avg) 251

About this poem

I wrote this poem because our first date is worth remembering.

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Written on January 29, 2003

Submitted by ALCookwriter on May 11, 2023

1:22 min read
64

Alan Cook

Alan Cook is an American poet whose early claim to fame was writing the lyrics to his high school's alma mater. more…

All Alan Cook poems | Alan Cook Books

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