Analysis of Residuals
Joe Strickland 1986 (Hobbysville, SC)
I like to complain and do nothing to act
I blame my parents' generation for their past
And how they almost achieved social change
Before the media and government's deface
Using the Manson's and Hippies as propaganda examples
Taking away from a movement, leaving scars and bitter residuals
From past efforts, residuals are felt, but I do nothing to act
Only continuing to blame the generation, letting complaints circle past
Examples of propaganda used, to show Hippies as unpatriotic messes
And it's easier to hide true issues than fight for social change's success
Our leaders should teach, not aim to deface
The wrong examples take the limelight in a culture of blame
The Baby Boomers have become a hypocritical blame
Their ultimate conformism creating damaging residuals
The medias' words aim to deface
And yet, I still do nothing but act
As though complaining alone will bring about success
And discrediting past efforts with unfair examples
I see the prototypes, and I see those examples
But I won't be defined by another's blame
Our parents' successes should not override our own success
And even more so, we should fix the residuals
We need to act, not let complacency stand for progress
The past defaced, only by accepting the scars we can grow and not deface
We argue now while past struggles are defaced
Proving these demeaning examples
Misguided by spite, our refusal to act
The real catalyst of change is in taking responsibility without blame
Our residuals will reflect our successes' progress
The baton passed, future generations deserve some success
We can help by disapproving examples of propaganda defacement
Embrace our progress, leaving the blame game behind
Success will be measured in how much we act and less about residuals.
Scheme | ABXCDD ABXECF FDCAED DFEDEC XDAFEE AXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101011011 11110010111 011101101 010100010001 100100101010010 100110101010100100 11100100111111011 1001001100101001101 0101010111101001010 011001111011110101 10101111101 01010101001011 01010101001001 110010101000100 0111101 011111011 1101001110101 00100110101010 110100111010 11110110101 1010010111010101 0101111100100 1111110100111 0101101010011110101 11011110101 101010010 010111001011 0110011101000100011 100100101100101 00111001001101 1111001001010101 011011001101 0111100111101010100 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,755 |
Words | 295 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 3 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 239 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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"Residuals" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/159622/residuals>.
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