I see, this day, from time to time, online
Profiles once pretty, polished, now wan—
Aging pix and broken links—with headline
Proclaiming: I Need to Find a Good Man!
And hear, in this unsweetened cry, a trope:
The subtle whisper of synecdoche.
For love, true love, is truly not her hope
In truth, her want is part, not all, of me.
For, this unperfumed beckon doth present
An air bespeaking all that’s pure and good
And yet belies a wanton, musky scent:
She lures stiffs to spicy womanhood.
Hence, here’s her honest herald—nay, her heed:
Desire Not the Chaff, But for the Seed!
Parker Allen Stacy, IV
4/14/2009
Copyright 2009 Parker Allen Stacy, IV. All Rights Reserved.
Author’s notes:
- The first stanza of this poem is intentionally a mess. It represents the chaotic state of these personalized profile web pages being described (and, in truth, the ladies they depict). Here are some of the “messy” choices made:
- The meter begins as iambic pentameter, but the last foot is not an iamb but a clashing trochee, which starts the choppiness of the sentence.
- The rhyme of online/headline is inane and the sight rhyme of wan/man adds to the chaos.
- The words “profile,” “pretty,” and “polished” are a bit of a forced alliteration, with trite adjectives.
Other notes about other choices:
- The rest of the poem is in iambic pentameter and should read much more smoothly.
- The phrase “this day” is intended to represent these modern times or “in this day and age.” And, the use of the word “pix” also is more modern and typical of the online banter these days.
- The word “chaff” is a double entendre as chaff also means “banter.” As if to say, “I’m not looking for small talk, let’s cut to the chase.” Other (not too subtle) double entendres are “stiffs” and “womanhood.”
