Motherhood Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIIJKILIMNODP QRS TSULTTTTVWXYZYSA2B2C 2TUUD2E2TTE UTF2UUTB2B2TF2CSG2UU UF2CLKIUShe sat on a shelf | A |
her breasts two bellies | B |
on her poked out belly | C |
on which the navel looked | D |
like a sucked in mouth | E |
her knees bent and apart | F |
her long left arm raised | G |
with the large hand knuckled | H |
to a bar in the ceiling | I |
her right hand clamping | I |
the skinny infant to her chest | J |
its round pale new | K |
soft muzzle hunting | I |
in the brown hair for a nipple | L |
its splayed tiny hand picking | I |
at her naked dirty ear | M |
Twisting its little neck | N |
with tortured ecstatic eyes | O |
the size of lentils it looked | D |
into her severe close set | P |
solemn eyes that beneath bald | Q |
eyelids glared dull lights | R |
in sockets of leather | S |
- | |
- | |
She twitched some chin hairs | T |
with pain or pleasure | S |
as the baby mouth found and | U |
yanked at her nipple | L |
its pink nailed jointless | T |
fingers wandering her face | T |
tangled in the tufts | T |
of her cliffy brows | T |
She brought her big | V |
hand down from the bar | W |
with pretended exasperation | X |
unfastened the little hand | Y |
and locked it within her palm | Z |
while her right hand | Y |
with snag nailed forefinger | S |
and short sharp thumb raked | A2 |
the new orange hair | B2 |
of the infant s skinny flank | C2 |
and found a louse | T |
which she lipped and | U |
thoughtfully crisped | U |
between broad teeth | D2 |
She wrinkled appreciative | E2 |
nostrils which without a nose | T |
stood open damp holes | T |
above the poke of her mouth | E |
- | |
- | |
She licked her lips flicked | U |
her leather eyelids | T |
then suddenly flung | F2 |
up both arms and grabbed | U |
the bars overhead | U |
The baby s scrabbly fingers | T |
instantly caught the hair | B2 |
as if there were metal rings there | B2 |
in her long stretched armpits | T |
And as she stately swung | F2 |
and then proudly more swiftly | C |
slung herself from corner | S |
to corner of her cell | G2 |
arms longer than her round | U |
body short knees bent | U |
her little wild haired | U |
poke mouthed infant hung | F2 |
like some sort of trophy | C |
or decoration or shaggy medal | L |
shaped like herself but new | K |
clean soft and shining | I |
on her chest | U |
May Swenson
(1)
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