Analysis of Conditions



One day,
I saw a crackhead scoop up dirty street water
And throw it at a woman already wet from the rain
The woman had a basket on her head
And a colorful dress that hugged wide hips
And spilled to her feet
She was grace
And walked through the brown water as such.

A monk in a monastery
Told me things arise when the conditions are there

I wonder what was in the crackhead’s heart
What intrusive thought burst into her head?
What sentiment was felt
As the water hit the woman?
Did it gratify her ego?
Did she feel bad?
How about when the woman
Walked by as if she was thin air?
Was there anger?
Back then,
I didn’t ponder these questions
I only watched from the bus stop
In disgust

But what was in my heart
To feel that way
Rain clouds covered the sun
The bus was late
And the pretty drum of rain on earth
Was drowned out by yelling and shouting
I was depressed
And living unconscious

So I felt disgusted
And it put a condition in me
To sit here and write a poem
Where I call a random woman
A crackhead
Because my mind made her appear as such
And another woman grace
Because my mind made her appear as such

Dirty street water touched that woman’s brow
And it made mine furrow
As I felt the anger for her
But she walked away with grace
And I stepped on the bus perturbed
Because a crackhead threw dirty street water on me
And that’s the condition of ego within me
Relating to a stranger in empathy
And another in anger

But appearances are deceiving
And my brother taught me to
Never get caught in a moment
But I haven’t yet built the conditions of peace
In myself
To be able to look at another
Without sticking their head in rain clouds or the sun
And so I’m caught throwing dirty street water
At people I don’t know


Scheme abxcxxde fg hcxijxigbxxxx haixxkxx xfxiaEdE xjbdxfffb kxxxxbibj
Poetic Form
Metre 11 11011110110 01110100101101 0101010101 0010011111 01101 111 011011011 0100100 111011001011 110110011 1010110101 110011 10101010 1110010 1111 1011010 11111111 1110 11 1110110 11011011 001 111011 1111 111001 0111 001011111 111110010 1101 01010 111010 011001001 11101010 11101010 01 0111100111 0010101 0111100111 101101111 011110 11101010 1110111 01110101 010111011011 010010110011 01010100100 0010010 101001010 0110111 10110010 11111001011 01 1110111010 011011011101 01111010110 110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,775
Words 387
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 8, 2, 13, 8, 8, 9, 9
Lines Amount 57
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 195
Words per stanza (avg) 48

About this poem

I wrote this poem reflecting on the ways our internal biases paint the world in which we live. Those biases are the conditions for the world we see and so this poem is a rumination of an event I saw and how my mind shaped what I saw. This poem is a practice in non-judgment and understanding the interconnectedness of people.

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Written on July 24, 2022

Submitted by carlospic19 on July 25, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:56 min read
42

Carlos Pichardo

I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. I am a Dominican man who enjoys spending his time writing poetry, being in nature, meditating, and reading. more…

All Carlos Pichardo poems | Carlos Pichardo Books

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    "Conditions" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/133234/conditions>.

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