Anaphora

Anaphora: at the beginning.  Many of the lines begin with the same word or phrase, and perhaps certain lines begin with another, repeated word or phrase. They rhythm is established syntactically. The mind returns to each beginning, as does a weaver at the loom. Here is a poem:

Romanticism 101

BY DEAN YOUNG

Then I realized I hadn’t secured the boat.

Then I realized my friend had lied to me.

Then I realized my dog was gone

no matter how much I called in the rain.

All was change.

Then I realized I was surrounded by aliens

disguised as orthodontists having a convention

at the hotel breakfast bar.

Then I could see into the life of things,

that systems seek only to reproduce

the conditions of their own reproduction.

If I had to pick between shadows

and essences, I’d pick shadows.

They’re better dancers.

They always sing their telegrams.

Their old gods do not die.

Then I realized the very futility was salvation

in this greeny entanglement of  breaths.

Yeah, as if.

Then I realized even when you catch the mechanism,

the trick still works.

Then I came to in Texas

and realized rockabilly would never go away.

Then I realized I’d been drugged.

We were all chasing nothing

which left no choice but to intensify the chase.

I came to handcuffed and gagged.

I came to intubated and packed in some kind of foam.

This too is how ash moves through water.

And all this time the side doors unlocked.

Then I realized repetition could be an ending.

Then I realized repetition could be an ending.