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QuillOak

Free Verse · Love

Across the Table

by The QuillOak Editors

1You across the table,

2sleeves rolled, telling me the story

3of your day like it's an epic —

4and to me, it is.

5Kingdoms have fallen, love,

6for less than how you look right now,

7reaching for the check

8you'll never let me pay.

Original poem © QuillOak — personal sharing is permitted.

Quick facts

Poem
Across the Table
Poet
The QuillOak Editors
Length
8 lines
Form
Free Verse
Themes
Love, For Him, Short

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
8 lines · one 8-line stanza
End rhyme
No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.
Line length
Lines run 5-8 syllables (median 6), consistent with trimeter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a free verse, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Original QuillOak text. Personal sharing is permitted; other reuse requires permission.

Author record
The QuillOak Editorstoday
Source record
QuillOak originalAcross the Table, authored for QuillOak by The Quillery
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 ceec42308f3d3728
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policyReport a text or rights issue

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