Analysis of Familiar Scenerios
Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)
So familiar are discriminating scenarios.
My reaction to them,
Has slowed tremendously.
No longer quick am I to disbelieve,
I am followed to profile...
By my own people.
For expressing a pride for my own heritage.
And...
In a place where one's accepted identity,
Is suspect as a condition of nonconformity.
Meant to have me feel,
As if an alien from out of space.
Even those spaced out need not to prove it.
What has become,
Of freedoms to self express.
And be oneself.
Without,
The scanning of eyes from head to toe.
Then kept to stare,
Where eyes to not be publicly evaluating.
Oh yeah.
As if to be on an auction box.
The smaller the town, smaller are the minds,
Incapable to stop and prevent...
Their ignorance to value.
So familiar,
Are these discriminating scenarios.
That I must admit them missed,
Whenever I am visiting somewhere else.
And the people are actually acting as if...
Intelligent, thoughtful and consciously aware,
Of being more than objects scrutinized...
As if,
Not to have it realized...
That being human means,
Not being thought to be a novelty.
Only to pleasure and please,
Those who secretly find discreet places...
Where discriminating anyone is not done,
Away from others.
As much as it is in public kept to witness,
And validate their bigotry.
'To satisfy my curiosity.
In these old pictures you show me.
I understand your great grandmother,
A dark skinned Negro.
But...
Why is your great grandfather,
Dressed in a suit and tie?
Carrying a briefcase and smiling?'
'Hey...
Who knows.'
'Was he Creole or mixed?
He could have passed for white.'
'He was.
Who else in that picture is smiling?
And how many times have I told you,
My father use to call us 'mutts'.'
'Was he 'Your' father's grandfather?'
'That...
I really don't know.
But...
Look at what is written,
On the back of the picture.'
'I was not around to ask any questions.
Although I remember,
As a child taking a field trip to go...
To the United Nations in New York City.
And felt right at home.'
Scheme | axbxxxxxbbxxx xxxxcdexxxxf gaxxhdihixbxxjxxb bbgcKgxe xa xx xefx g xcKjg xgcbx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010101000100 101011 110100 1101111001 111011 11110 101001111100 0 001110100100 1011001010100 11111 1111001111 1011111111 1101 1101101 011 01 010111111 1111 111111000100 11 111111101 0100110101 010011001 1100110 1010 1101000100 1110111 0101110011 001011001011 010010010001 110111010 11 111110 110101 1101110100 1011001 1110010110 1010010111 01110 111110101110 01001100 11010100 01110111 1011110 01110 1 111110 100101 10001010 1 11 111011 111111 11 110110110 011011111 11011111 1111010 1 11011 1 111110 1011010 11101111010 11010 1011001111 100101001110 01111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,004 |
Words | 432 |
Sentences | 50 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 12, 17, 8, 2, 2, 4, 1, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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"Familiar Scenerios" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/162604/familiar-scenerios>.
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