Analysis of Nothing Changes
My balcony was where I went for daylight and cigarettes
a slab of concrete and metal railings
with cracked and peeling paint
the colour of dull, grey drain water
hanging from the wall
of my empty humdrum bungalow
where nothing changed
where the only visitors
were the carpenter ants
who marched in endless lines
with just a wonky-legged bamboo chair
to take the weight of the world
off of my feet
I’d sit and gaze through the smoke
at the view that never changed
an old, leafless and dying tree
leaning dangerously close
to a utility pole
I hoped for the day it collapsed
into the power lines
ending its days in a roaring blaze
of glory
thrilling me as its final act
but it never gave up
it didn't have the guts to fall
it's just a tease
And still nothing changed
but one drizzling morning
in the last quarter
of my first cigarette of the day
a loud and unnerving flapping sound
swooped down from above
and landed next to the ashtray
a few feet away from me
making my skin shiver in fear
as the fire-orange gaze of an owl
held on to me
pulling me
to the edge of my broken chair
her prehistoric talons started hooking tightly
around what was left of my soul
I felt a beautiful warm pain as they dug in
I’m from a city
where I’d only had experiences
with humans of prey
it always surprised me that
there weren't more owls in London
because there are plenty of rodents
as I gazed in admiration
for what seemed like hours
I didn’t know if that raptor
wanted to rip me to shreds
or give me a feather
but I kept still
trying not to spook her
regardless
I’d fallen in love
completely defenceless
to her unfathomable grace
so calm and collected
but poised to adapt
in the blink of an eye
to the slightest twitch
of nature’s disarray
ready to stun all she encountered
I’d surrendered
I was encaptured
hers to kill or release
Then her eyes let mine go
and turned to the sky
as her talons loosened
she scraped my soul
leaving her mark
then her wings unfolded
and with one gentle wave
she caught the wind
and was gone from my life
I slumped back in the chair
left to the view
that never changed
I took one last drag of my cigarette
and stumped it out
and had one last hopeful glimpse at the grey empty sky
and stumped that hope out too
because they all fly away
sooner or later
and that will never change
Scheme | AXBCDEFGXHIXX XFJXKXHXJXXDXF XCLXMLJXXJJIJKX JXLXNX NGCXCXCX MAXOXPXLQQBX EPXKXOXXXIRF XXPR LCX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100111111001 0110101010 110101 01111110 10101 1110110 1101 1010100 001001 110101 110110011 1101101 1111 1101101 1011101 11100101 1010001 1001001 11101101 010101 101100101 110 10111101 111011 11010111 1101 01101 1110010 00110 11101101 010010101 11101 0101101 0110111 10111001 1010101111 1111 101 10111101 001010101010 01111111 110100111110 11010 1110101000 11011 110111 11011010 011110110 1110010 111110 1111110 1011111 111010 1111 101110 010 11001 0101 10010001 110010 11101 001111 10101 11001 101111010 1010 111 011101 101111 01101 101010 1111 1001 101010 011101 1101 011111 111001 1101 1101 111111101 0111 0111101101101 011111 0111101 10110 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,340 |
Words | 470 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 14, 15, 6, 8, 12, 12, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 87 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 204 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
About this poem
Based on too many true stories.
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Written on September 10, 2023
Submitted by ExistentialPranks on October 09, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:22 min read
- 1 View
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"Nothing Changes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/143344/nothing-changes>.
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