This looks like jump to me



You are a cockroach

you are a big cockroach crawling up a pegboard
the kitchen light suddenly shines
and you must get through to the other side
but testing every evenly spaced hole you find
your shoulders will never fit
and to get away you’ve got to fall.

                                                                fall
or refuse to crawl and wait motionless
until inspiration with an overview filters through
or you die of hunger, lack of love, fear of death
or the outlandish hands of another angry animal
with a wisdom wiser
but infinitely useless as your own.

so you die. but now the big hands are gentle
and you receive a respite of thoughtlessness
and the garbage grave has warm chicken bones
and you don’t care what happens to you
or the oldest species of proud recalcitrant insects
or procreating it or foraging a grubby kitchen sink

for food. the joy of making life is new. let go,
and through the night be carried carelessly along.
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Submitted by Robert Ronnow on March 24, 2023

Modified by Robert Ronnow on March 24, 2023

53 sec read
9

Quick analysis:

Scheme X XAXXXB BXCXDXX DAXCXX XX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,062
Words 179
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 6, 7, 6, 2

Robert Ronnow

www.ronnowpoetry.com more…

All Robert Ronnow poems | Robert Ronnow Books

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1 Comment
  • dougb.19255
    The parallels. Cockroach and me. This an entertaining albeit humbling read. Thanks Robert. Now I am following you. Keep going.
    Talent witheld is talent sadly underground and avoiding duty. Wayne Blair.
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"This looks like jump to me" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/154780/this-looks-like-jump-to-me>.

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