The Jokes We Tell
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
I'd say that Cupid's blessed arrow
Is just a poison dart,
And love is just a vampire
Claiming a stake within my heart
And that voodoo doll with pins
Stuck in its eyes don't look like me
But it's getting really dark in here
And difficult to see
The cruelest of the jokes we know
Is the one that tells us love is blind
I don't wonder it is so
I've never known another kind
Down at ophthalmology
They'll stick needles into me
And dress me in a backless gown
For Lasik surgery
I'd love to stay for breakfast
But you need your beauty sleep
You've already had your fill
And my appointment will not keep
The cruelest of the jokes we know
Is the one that tells us love is blind
I don't wonder it is so
I've never known another kind
You drove the point home, made it stick
No phantom flaming fatal dart
No hungry fangs of a mere vampire
Staking a claim within my heart
The visions here are friendly
The deadly poison arrows fall
Messiah neatly framed and hung
The portrait nailed to your wall
The cruelest of the jokes we know
Is the one that tells us love is blind
I don't wonder it is so
I've never known another kind
© John Kennan 12-8-16
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | abcbxdxd AEAE ddxdxfxf AEAE xbcbdgxg AEAE x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,123 |
Words | 221 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4, 1 |
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"The Jokes We Tell" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100771/the-jokes-we-tell>.
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