Analysis of Going After Mistletoe
Nana was there for the birth
so when her child could drive again
we went to cut the mistletoe,
grandmother and mother in the front,
babies in the back.
The Dodge made its way through
dusty Arkansas, and mountain roads
powdered up in clouds.
Autumn deep, but the sun hadn’t
given up the drought.
They found the grove across a field
that reached out towards the river;
one tree held the treasure.
Mistletoe, green and fat with sticky pearls,
glittered towards the top.
Our mother handed back the keys to
a car the other couldn’t drive
and slid the pen knife in her pocket.
Three weeks old, my sister slept as
One woman scaled the tree.
She freed the bundle from its perch,
and made a sling out of her jacket.
She dropped it straight, then
found the branches down.
Nana finally asked, “And if you’d fallen?”
Invaded doves sent out their call,
and I thought ghosts were waking.
I cried, and hid behind the car door.
Our mother said to us all, “I never fall.
There’s nothing here to hurt you.”
Scheme | XABXX CXXBX XDDXX CXEXX XEAXX FXXFC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1011101 11011101 1111010 10010001 10001 011111 10100101 10101 1011011 10101 11010101 11101010 111010 101011101 100101 1010101011 0101011 010110010 11111011 110101 11010111 010111010 11111 10101 10100101110 01011111 0111010 110101011 101011111101 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,015 |
Words | 211 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 129 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
About this poem
This poem is part of a memory of my grandmother and mother, and a dusty ride in an old car somewhere in Arkansas before Christmas.
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Going After Mistletoe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/158582/going-after-mistletoe>.
Discuss this Jody Serey 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