Analysis of Black Casted

Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)



Black.
And casted,
In a multitude of colors.
Reflecting my ancestors skin.

I don't wear this as a badge.
Or a rainbow flag to wave.
I am too proud and filled with pride.
To know where inside me,
This pride I have began to reside.

And...
Accept this to believe it or not.
Never have I yet to visit or travel,
To Africa, Spain, Haiti or The West Indies.
Nor Germany, Amsterdam.
Or why it was said...
Other ancestors I had were Caucasian as well.
And when I first heard about this,
I asked my light skinned brown mother...
'MA? How can you tell?'

And in these color to identify,
Who is who to come from days.
Every step I make to take,
I choose to represent...
All my ancestors.
Some say to believe with arrogance.
Although arrogance to label me?
In these times and days in which,
Diversity is overwhelmingly displayed?
Gives me more reason,
To flaunt my talents and abilities.
With an acknowledgement...
As to where I inherited my self confidence.
Leaving me better to accept and know best,
Who it is I am.
Caring less about others who may protest.

Although...
Just to be arrogant?
With a self indulgence of it displayed?
To me is such a limited waste of time.
To pick and choose done to stay that way.
When from an array of options,
God has blessed me to receive and be.
More than being identified as Black.
And casted only to play those roles.
Roles to play reluctantly.

'So...
Does size matter to you or not?'

Size?
The size of what?

'The size of shoes your ancestors wore?
They have got to be tight.
Making your feet very sore.'

That is neither my wish.
Nor would I ever attempt to fill,
A past today that no longer exists.
And besides,
Too big they were.
But I must admit,
I do wonder how they did it.
Knowing they were resented,
For being who they were.
With or without shoes,
To walk taller even better than ever!


Scheme ABCX XXBDB BBXEFBGXHG XXXBCIDXBXEBIBFB JBBXXXDAXD JB XB KBK XXXXHBBBHXH
Poetic Form
Metre 1 01 0010110 0101101 1111101 101111 11110111 111011 111101101 0 011101111 10111110110 110011010110 110010 11111 101011001011 01111011 11111110 11111 001101010 1111111 10011111 11101 1110 111011100 11001101 0110101 01001010001 11110 1111000100 110100 1111010011100 10110101011 11111 1010110111 1 111100 1010101101 11110100111 110111111 11101110 111110101 111001011 01101111 1110100 1 11101111 1 0111 01111101 111111 1011101 111011 111100111 0101111001 001 1110 11101 11101111 1010010 110110 11011 11101010110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,827
Words 411
Sentences 49
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 5, 10, 16, 10, 2, 2, 3, 11
Lines Amount 63
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 154
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Written on June 12, 2022

Submitted by lpahtillah on June 12, 2022

Modified by lpahtillah on June 13, 2022

2:03 min read
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