What poetic devices are used in this poem? where? (at least 3)

once i wasn’t always so plain.
i was strewn feathers on a cross
of dune, an expanse of ocean
at my feet, garlands of gulls.

sirens and gulls. they couldn’t tame you.
you know as well as they: to be
a dove is to bear the falcon
at your breast, your nights, and your seas.

my fear is simple, heart-faced
above a flare of etchings, a lineage
in letters, my sudden stare. it’s you.

it’s you! sang the heart upon its mantel
pelvis. blush of my breath, catch
of my see-beautiful bird-it’s you.

"Strewn feathers" are a metaphor for chaos. It can also be a bit of a paradox because feathers are lightweight, and chaos is a serious and heavy matter.

"Sang the heart upon its mantel" in the last stanza is personification.

"See", again in the last stanza, is a homophone, or a word whose pronunciation has double meaning. The poet could mean see as is sight, but also implying sea like the body of water.

beginner

government is strong when they have the ability to persuade those they govern to believe government has enough power to force them or should be forcing them to do government’s will.

when enough of the citizenry do not believe government can force them or should force them to do its bidding, government has lost or will lose its strength and power to coerce.

when enough of the citizenry do believe government can force or should force them to do its bidding, they become passive at the least or actively pro-government and repeat government’s own rhetoric to pass on what they have been persuaded by government’s propaganda.

a true majority isn’t always needed to govern or to stop government. many times all that is needed is a strong minority. if a determined 30% of the population rises up against government in a concerted effort to bring it down, this size minority usually will succeed as long as those actively opposing the minority are less in force than the minority. so if 41% of the population sits at home watching tv rooting for one side or the other, they don’t matter. it’s the active parties who make a difference.