Analysis of Old Tommy



I sit in the dark watching a dim-lit screen
While amidst the calm patience, I make my blade keen
For all in its worth, this screen will give commands
Much like vice versa, we met our demands

Oh, what a bleak concept to see through a box
To live life controlled by digital clocks
And so in my darkness, I wait for a light
So that I may hunt for my prey in the night

I eat only what the screen says I shall
My sphere of influence not beyond my locale
Not in solace, nor song, do I speak from my mind
For my mind is a gear that the screen may rewind

It tells me it loves me and let's me stay sane
As long as I promise to always refrain
From hearing the truth for what it intends
To come across as when it wants to be friends

I have only one friend, one friend to describe
His name is Old Tommy, the chief of my tribe
No man, no woman may ever compare
To the wits of Old Tommy and our platonic affair

He listens, he gives me the greatest advice
His words are so soothing, yet complex and precise
We like to look over the people in our town
And judge them like subjects of the heavenly crown

We list them and keep them in an organized file
For a near-future date to make this all worthwhile
The list is complete, no names are excluded
And after completion, we promptly concluded

The world is a cup and it's filled to the brim
So we decided to drink from the cup (on a whim)
He gave me a name and we found its address
And we did our foul business and cleaned up our mess

And after we found and deleted the text
We again pressed the button and moved onto the next
This process took over the course of my life
From my weak years of twelve to my middle-aged strife

And all along the way no regrets met my mind
For my mind was a gear that Tommy could rewind
At the age of seventy (or seventy-one)
Tommy and I decided that our work was done

So I sat in the dark and I filled up my glass
"Cheers, Tommy boy," (I don't mean to be crass)
But before I could sip, Old Tommy said, "Son"
"The list of names has been narrowed to one"

And I said, "How did we forget that last person"
Let's finish our work before this situation worsens
So I looked at list and was surprised to see

That the name on the list was none other than me


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ KKLL MMNN OOPP QQRR FFSS TTSS SXU U
Poetic Form
Metre 11001100111 101011011111 11011111101 11110111001 11011011101 1110111001 01011011101 11111111001 1110101111 111100101101 101011111111 111101101110 11111101111 1111101101 1100111101 11011111111 11101111101 11111001111 1111011001 101111001001001 11011101001 111110110001 1111100100101 011110101001 11101101101 101101111111 01101111010 010010110010 01101011101 111011101101 1110101111 01110110011101 01011001001 1011010011001 1111001111 111111111011 010101101111 111101110110 101110011001 100110110111 111001011111 1101111111 10111111011 0111111011 011111011110 11010101101010 11111010111 101101111011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 2,162
Words 451
Sentences 1
Stanzas 13
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 1
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 132
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on April 28, 2016

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:16 min read
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