Sonnet 15

Hmm. I'm not thrilled with line two, but will leave it for now ... until my inner editor surfaces one day (I have a feeling that it's not far off) and I'll whip through all the problems in the verses and get them closer to what I want.

I gaze at you from ocean’s chilly depths
And see you doing stretches by the shore.
I noticed that you seem to shift your steps
To push yourself to reach a wee bit more.
I gaze at you from cloudy threatening skies
And watch you as you take your daily run,
And when you lift a weight for exercise;
To train yourself for heavy lance and gun.
I gaze at you from dullest hillside stones
As you ride by upon your war-trained mount;
But you’re preparing for the foes well known
Who tilt to mark the day of Royal count.
From ashes I have told you what I see.
Pray tell me sir, what do you see in me?

Sonnet 14

A paradise for fools? What thing is this
That mocks the rules that I was always taught?
While foolish acts mayhap could win a kiss;
Such acts, for heaven’s reward, avail me nought.
If what I’m told of Paradise is true,
‘Tis filled with fools of a most virtuous type
And, while I hope I’m not as bad as you,
I trust I bear not that angelic stripe.
If what I’m told of foolishness is fair,
It is a pastime that’s reserved for wits
And, though I am no brain, I would not dare
To claim that I’ve not scored my share of hits.
And, thus, it is a foolish yarn I spool
Within this paradise reserved for fools.

Sonnet 13

Enough of this modern stuff -- back to 1582 and the sequence.

You carried me away to Ludgate Hill,
For Lyly’s play, put on by Oxford’s men.
‘Twas “Sapho”, and his voice was rather shrill;
Small wonder Phao left her quickly, then.
You bought me books of verse with hard-earned coin
And claimed, each time, you thought of me throughout:
While all the sundry flowers of Gascoigne
Were eaten by the sheep of Colin Cloute.
You poured a ruby wine into my cup
And drank to friendship that we had begun;
We took our seats, relaxing as we supped.
‘Twas hours before our feast was truly done.
What can I give, that you might think was clever?
Accept my words, and you shall last forever.

modern sonnet 4

The sweetness of your lips cannot diffuse
The creeping sense of boredom you instil
Within my mind. With scads of time to fill,
I gaze at everyone you buy and use,
But spend my hours alone. I take a pill
And game against myself -- I always lose --
And dream of going on a river cruise.
I pour a drink and wonder 'Could I kill?'
You seem so damn' mundane, and I refuse
To fit your mould again. My life stands still
When I'm with you. But now I have a will
To live: I've grossly overpaid my dues.
So don't you bother writing up a bill,
'Cause I'll short change you, winking at the till.

modern sonnet 3

The Migraine

Hot pokers sear my mind, and in my brain
The lights -- electric blue and blinding white --
Impede my view. A fireball in flight
Appears on the periphery, then wanes.
The agony has dimmed, to my delight.
But now, in cotton wool, I feel the strain
Of looking through a telescope in vain
Because it's turned around -- a funny sight.
Well, finally the throbs begin to wane
As medication acts and puts to flight
Incessant thoughts about my head; I'm quite
Relieved that I'm no longer in such pain.
But now, compulsive chatter's at its height.
I murmur thoughts while rushing through the night.

modern sonnet 2

This is purely self-indulgent. Of course, most of my poetry is.

I walk the silent streets alone at night
And stand bereft on corner islands lit
By graceless rays. I'm thinking that I might
Attempt to find some quiet place to sit.
In coffee-houses, dark and filled with smoke,
I struggle with ideas that mean nought.
I’ve heard the coffee-poets can't revoke
Their own poetic licences when caught.
In institutions filled with weary brains
I wrestle with the concepts that are bound
To cause my death. At times I feel such pain.
I wonder if my body would be found.
Condemned to highs and lows, this is my plight:
To walk the silent streets alone at night.

modern sonnet 1

I've been trying to meld modern sensibilities with the structure of the sonnet, with indifferent results. Here's one of them.

I love the dead - the dead so cold.
Oblivious to hurt and pain
The pageantry of grief unfolds
To people melting in the rain.
With sky that's grey (so like their skin)
Their hailstone teeth soon bite the dust
And tears that strongly smell of gin
Have turned their fingernails to rust.
The legs that could not bear their weight,
While backs that on the beaches bask,
Are shipping bodies home by freight
For faces hidden by a mask.
But arms dismembered from the soul
Are reaching, still, towards their goal.

Sonnet 12

By day, throughout the chores that must be done
I long for night to bring me swift disguise
That I may prove an equal for the sun
In wat’ry robes, dressed worthy of the prize.
By night I cannot sleep, but agonize.
I long for day and work’s oblivion
Where glimpses of the sun may tantalize,
For glimpses of him are not simply won.
By day or night, I fear I am undone
Though I must love while in a servant’s guise
The man whom all the Court has idealized.
By night or day, I whisper this to none
“It matters not if I have been unwise
For I have seen the fire in midnight eyes.”

Sonnet 11

Is this true love, of which the minstrels sing,
That makes me still long to embrace you so?
Or is it lust that makes my heart take wing
And yearn to follow you where’er you go?
It is not love; I really must insist,
No matter what misguided friends have said
And, yet, it is so strong I must persist.
I should forswear my heart and use my head.
It is not lust, for that slights Cupid’s dart
Which has been shot, and I will not pretend
That he has missed me, or that I will mend.
I would forsake my head and know my heart.
I swear it is not love, nor vulgar lust.
Perhaps ‘tis the unknown that haunts me thus.

Sonnet 10

You rob me of my mind. My sense is gone.

But, with my common sense, has flown my pride.
My least delightful armour I shall don
And give you reason to avoid my side.
It fits into your plot: for she will cry,
E’en though she does not know we shared a kiss.
I shall not tell. I would not be so sly,
Although I think you capable of this.
If all the world were stricken by a plague
Affecting only men, and you remained,
You would not be my choice. I would not beg,
As she has done, with nothing ever gained.
You win the ladies’ hearts with awful ease.
You’ll have to work, if I’m the one to please.