Analysis of I Know You
Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)
The knowing of someone,
Takes, at least, a conversation to have had.
Or something shared from the past,
To reminisce it and together laugh.
And in these days we live,
It is becoming more to witness,
Childhood friends, relatives and co-workers...
Shouting to argue over nonsense.
As if kids in a playground.
Blaming one another for what the other did,
To either lie about it to exaggerate.
Or debate until the boiling flips,
Off their grown up lids.
Then attempts made to separate them,
Is brought into streets and police are called.
Arriving to witness,
A fist throwing public brawl.
Leaving no there knowing what started it all.
There are places where these same people,
Live and heard to say...
'I know you.'
And what is known,
Is frequently seeing someone's face.
Yet nothing else known to anyone,
Could they prove to validate.
'You talking to me?'
'Of course, I'm talking to you.'
'Oh?
Forgive me but I don't remember you one bit.
Nothing about you is familiar.
And this to you I will admit.
When did we meet?
Have we spoken before?
Or...
Were we introduced by someone?
Like maybe a friend or a neighbor?
Or perhaps a relative I visited.
And you live next door?'
'No.
I just see you around.
Here and there.
And...
When that fight broke out,
in the street last week?
I saw you helping the women,
Put their wigs back on.
While I stood there with the guys,
Doing nothing but laughing their butts off.
But you,
I heard to say to the police...
That you were not a hairdresser.
But you felt a need,
To collect the wigs.
Because few of the women you did not know,
Personally.
Although you appreciated,
A woman who dressed appropriately.
And that's how I know you!'
'How come you didn't assist me?
Or at least say hello?'
'Are you kidding?
Two of the guys with me laughing.
Told me they were related to the women.
And one of them had laughed so hard,
He ran inside the building...
To use the bathroom.
Then I looked around and saw you,
Walking away.
That's how I know you!'
Scheme | AXXX XBXXCDEXXXXBFF XGHXXAE I H JKLKXMMALXM JCXXXXAXXXHXLXXJIDIH IJ NNAXNXHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011 1110010111 1101101 101100101 001111 110101110 111000110 101101010 111001 101010110101 11010111010 101010101 11111 10111101 1101100111 010110 0110101 10111011011 111011110 10111 111 0111 11001011 11011110 1111100 11011 1111011 1 011111010111 100111010 01111101 1111 111001 1 010111 110011010 10101001100 01111 1 111101 101 0 11111 00111 11110010 11111 1111101 1010110111 11 11111001 1101010 11101 10101 01110101111 1000 110100 0101101000 011111 11110011 111101 1110 11011110 11100101010 01111111 1101010 1101 11101011 1001 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,977 |
Words | 437 |
Sentences | 50 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 14, 7, 1, 1, 11, 20, 2, 9 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 167 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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"I Know You" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/173803/i-know-you>.
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