Analysis of Friends Hiking the Sierra's
As we walked up the canyon trail,
The sun setting in her brown eyes,
She suddenly stopped, then asked me
"Have you ever seen such beautiful skies?"
Quickly turning from the fading sun,
Staring at me in the mountain's shadow,
She said "I need to ask you a question,
The answer I'm sure I already know.
The question isn't why are you and I
Hiking the Sierra's in the twilight.
The question that needs answering,
Is why did you ask me here tonight?
Pondering, I now have another question,
More important to me I suspect.
The real question I need answered
Is why did I so readily accept?
I'm engaged to man two states away,
Just teaching for a year till I wed.
Having met you I don't know what I want.
Damn, I can't get you out of my head!
Well friend don't stand there pretending
That you don't know why we are here.
Please tell me friend what do you think?"
I said "Friend I think we need a beer."
She sighed a smile breaking my heart
Because her smile would soon be gone.
I also knew she wanted to stay
With me untill the desert dawn.
So we shared a beer and a whiskey
Strolling into the waning sunlight.
She said "Please friend give me an answer."
I replied "Friend I will later on tonight."
The stars began to present themselves
Eventually covering the desert sky.
We stared in silence till I noticed
A single tear twinkling in her eye.
"I'll tell you friend why we are here
Hiking the Sierra's late at night.
It's because from the moment we met
I believed in love at first sight.
And I know you feel as I do because
I felt you trembling three feet away
When you saw me standing in your doorway
It was your lying eyes that did betray."
That's the reason, friend, we are here
Hiking at night up in the mountains.
It's not because of the warm gentle breeze.
It's not because we are just friends.
"Friend you're right, what shall we do?"
"Have another beer, walk by starlight
Back to the car, turn on the radio,
And dance until the morning light."
The conversation went silent for a time.
The tears subsided in the coming morn.
Dancing, she looked into my eyes and
I saw only sadness, loss, and forlorn.
With the rising sun in her brown eyes,
The Mojave covered in a cool mist,
A desert breeze brushing her hair,
I glanced forever as we kissed.
Her tears moistened my cheeks,
Trembling like the 1st moment we met.
She said as we left the mountains
"I'll remember this night and never forget
The 1st time I saw you, your smile.
My love who'll forever share my life
In the desert of long ago memories,
Friend I'm sorry I can't be you wife."
I smiled and we kissed one last time.
She smiled as tears fell once again.
Then she gently wiped away my tears
Saying "You are my love, not my friend."
Scheme | XABA CDCD EFGF CXXX HIXI GJXX XKHK BFXF XEXE JFLF XHHH JMNX XFDF OPXP AQXQ XLML XRNR OXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (72%) |
Metre | 11110101 01100011 11001111 1110111001 101010101 101100101 1111111010 0101110101 0101011101 100010001 01011100 111111101 10011101010 101011101 01101110 1111110001 101111101 110101111 1011111111 111111111 11111010 11111111 11111111 111111101 11011011 01011111 110111011 1110101 111010010 10010101 111111110 10111110101 010111001 010001000101 110101110 0101100001 11111111 100010111 101101011 10101111 0111111101 1111001101 111110011 1111011101 10101111 101110010 1101101101 11011111 1111111 10101111 110111010 01010101 0010110101 0101000101 101101110 1110101001 101010011 0010100011 01011001 11010111 011011 1001011011 11111010 10101101001 01111111 111010111 00101101100 111011111 11011111 11111101 111010111 101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,707 |
Words | 579 |
Sentences | 38 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
About this poem
It was a perfect hike 38 years ago.
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"Friends Hiking the Sierra's" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/116090/friends-hiking-the-sierra%27s>.
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