Analysis of Prisoner
Joe Strickland 1986 (Hobbysville, SC)
There is a silence
That hangs between the tongue
And the throat, like a thread
Unraveling, a secret whispered
Only to be swallowed by the dark,
And in this silence, we learn
How to be prisoners of our own making.
They never told us, did they,
That the walls around us
Were erected by our own hands?
That we, the architects of our fates,
Have unknowingly crafted cells
From the fragile scaffolding
Of our hopes and dreams.
The world taught us
To keep our eyes wide open,
But not to question
The very ground we stood on.
So we walked through corridors
Of illusions, chasing shadows,
Unaware that we were treading
On the edge of a precipice,
Always one step away from falling.
And now, the truth arrives,
A drop of rain on parched lips,
That we have been molded
Into obedient captives,
Nurtured in the garden of ignorance,
Watered by the lies we were fed.
We have walked this earth
Believing it was our kingdom,
But it was our cell all along.
But listen, my dear prisoner,
To the sound of your heartbeat,
The rhythm of your untamed spirit,
For it knows no walls, no boundaries.
They can trap your body,
But they can never bind your mind.
In the dark corners of your soul,
Where light glimmers and hope persists,
Let the knowledge of your captivity
Ignite a fire, burn down these walls.
For the greatest escape is not in fleeing,
But in realizing that we are not meant
To be confined, to be caged,
That our freedom resides within us.
So here, my fellow prisoner,
Let us whisper to the wind,
Let us share our secret rebellion,
That the nemesis of a prison
Is not the barred door,
But the belief that it is our only home.
Scheme | AXBXXXC XDXXXCX DEEXXXCDC XXXXABXXX FXXXGH XXGXCXXD FHEEXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010 110101 001101 010001010 101110101 0011011 111100110110 1101111 101011 001011011 110101101 10100101 1010100 110101 0111 11101110 11110 0101111 1111100 1010101 0111010 10110100 11101110 010101 0111111 111110 01010010 1000101100 10101101 11111 010111010 111101101 11011100 101111 01011110 111111100 111110 11110111 00110111 11100101 1010110100 010101111 10100111010 1010011111 1101111 1101001011 11110100 1110101 1111010010 101001010 11011 100111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,621 |
Words | 340 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 9, 9, 6, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 181 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Written on July 01, 2023
Submitted by JoeStrickland on July 01, 2023
Modified by JoeStrickland on July 24, 2023
- 1:42 min read
- 8 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Prisoner" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/163064/prisoner>.
Discuss this Joe Strickland poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In