Rhyme- Rhoman James

The whiskey on your breath A Could make a small boy dizzy; B But I hung on like death: A Such waltzing was not easy. B We romped until the pans C Slid from the kitchen shelf; D My mother’s countenance C Could not unfrown itself. D The hand that held my wrist E Was battered on one knuckle; F At every step you missed E My right ear scraped a buckle. F You beat time on my head G With a palm caked hard by dirt, H Then waltzed me off to bed G Still clinging to your shirt. H The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH, contributes to the constant feeling of this poem. I see this poem from a daughters point of view talking about her abusive father. The fact that this rhyme scheme repeats for every stanza makes us feel a good sense of rhythm, probably because this occurrence is a regular occurrence. This is a very easy rhyme scheme to keep track of and it makes us see this experience as common, there is nothing out of the ordinary. This is a very sad poem that is filled with innocence from a child, and that shows in the simplicity of the rhyme scheme