Ritual One Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJHKLMBDNOPQ RSTU VWXYZA2TB2C2D2E2BF2Z G2D G2H2I2 ZH2J2ZK2L2M2N2O2P2Q2| As I enter the theatre the play is going on | A |
| I hear the father say to the son on stage | B |
| You ve taken the motor apart | C |
| The son replies The roof is leaking | D |
| The father retorts The tire is flat | E |
| Tiptoeing down the aisle I find my seat | F |
| edge my way in across a dozen kneecaps | G |
| as I tremble for my sanity | H |
| I have heard doomed voices calling on god the electrode | I |
| Sure enough as I start to sit | J |
| a scream rises from beneath me | H |
| It is one of the players | K |
| If I come down I ll break his neck | L |
| caught between the seat and the backrest | M |
| Now the audience and the players on stage | B |
| their heads turned towards me are waiting | D |
| for the sound of the break Must I | N |
| Those in my aisle nod slowly reading my mind | O |
| their eyes fixed on me and I understand | P |
| that each has done the same | Q |
| Must I kill this man as the price of my admission | R |
| to this play His screams continue loud and long | S |
| I am at a loss as to what to do | T |
| I panic I freeze | U |
| - | |
| - | |
| My training has been to eat the flesh of pig | V |
| I might even have been able to slit a throat | W |
| As a child I witnessed the dead chickens | X |
| over a barrel of sawdust absorbing their blood | Y |
| I then brought them in a bag to my father | Z |
| who sold them across his counter Liking him | A2 |
| I learned to like people and enjoy their company too | T |
| which of course brought me to this play | B2 |
| But how angry I become | C2 |
| Now everybody is shouting at me to sit down | D2 |
| sit down or I ll be thrown out | E2 |
| The father and son have stepped off stage | B |
| and come striding down the aisle side by side | F2 |
| They reach me grab me by the shoulder | Z |
| and force me down I scream I scream | G2 |
| as if to cover the sound of the neck breaking | D |
| - | |
| - | |
| All through the play I scream | G2 |
| and am invited on stage to take a bow | H2 |
| I lose my senses and kick the actors in the teeth | I2 |
| - | |
| - | |
| There is more laughter | Z |
| and the actors acknowledge my performance with a bow | H2 |
| How should I understand this | J2 |
| Is it to say that if I machine gun the theatre | Z |
| from left to right they will respond with applause | K2 |
| that would only gradually diminish with each death | L2 |
| I wonder then whether logically I should kill myself | M2 |
| too out of admiration A question indeed | N2 |
| as I return to my seat and observe a new act | O2 |
| of children playfully aiming their kicks | P2 |
| at each other s groins | Q2 |
David Ignatow
(1)
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About Ritual One
Ritual One is a poem by David Ignatow. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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