As every English student has found out, A sonnet can be writ by anyone- From rhyming word pairs inspiration sprouts, Resulting in a bit of scanning fun, And pride in saying, “Look at what I wrote!” Enjoying kinship with great wordsmiths past, Since, thanks to Shakespeare, sonnets form connotes Refinement, passion, cleverness, and class. Now, … Continue reading August 28: Do You Want to Write a Sonnet?
Author: libbyweber
August 27: On Villanelles, or, No Villanelles
It was suggested that my daily sonnet Is insufficient challenge- I should spread My wings and place a feather in my bonnet By writing daily villanelles instead. The form demands two oft-repeated rhymes To end five three-line stanzas, two refrains, Each of which is repeated several times And finally finished off with a quatrain. To … Continue reading August 27: On Villanelles, or, No Villanelles
August 26: The Yoke is Easy
As one who walks two dogs when one dog balks And lags behind to seek enticing scents, The other pulling forward as she stalks Her feline quarry, such is the suspense Of living with one foot firmly on earth, Accepting obligations of that life, Though dull, because one understands the worth Of duty when it … Continue reading August 26: The Yoke is Easy
August 25: Ad Lib
Through force of Will came sonnets into being, Deliberately chosen as a form Requiring glibness, and perhaps foreseeing The poem's liberation from the norm- Instead of celibate and mannered verse, That rarely touches on libidinous matter, These sonnets are both liberal and perverse; A library of flippancy and smatter. Like Caliban on Sycorax's isle, I … Continue reading August 25: Ad Lib
August 24: A Deep Breath
To breathlessly anticipate new faces And tales carved out from layers of history With playfulness in interstitial spaces While solving a dramatic mystery, But then receive a quite familiar setting, Recurring characters, gambits, and tropes, As well scale issues that could use vetting- Was it constructed just to dash my hopes? What cynic put such … Continue reading August 24: A Deep Breath
August 23: Call and Response
When music joyfully calls out to us, It takes a moment for us to perceive The invitation to respond, and thus We pause, not wishing to appear naïve. But with the second call we understand Just what we are expected to repeat. It's both request and cheerful reprimand That silence makes the music incomplete. To … Continue reading August 23: Call and Response
August 22: Acceptance
August 22: Acceptance The wait between audition and result Could drive less sanguine people to distraction, For even if one does well, to exult Is premature, since knowing just fraction Of others seeking placement and their skill Leaves many variables yet undefined. Though premature analysis may thrill, It's won't affect what parts will be assigned. … Continue reading August 22: Acceptance
August 21: Ultimate
The Rule of Malheur Twelve is simply this: It can't be ordered as a final beer, And if this aphorism you dismiss, More Malheur Twelve is destined to appear. So if one buys a bottle for the table The person who is buying the next round Consults the bottle list and isn't able To find … Continue reading August 21: Ultimate
August 20: A Sort of Runic Rhyme
For three long nights refurbished bells have rung, To gather in the teeming congregation. Enchanting melodies the choir has sung Above the thrilling tintinnabulation. In ninteen ninety-six these bells first tolled, And then again in ninteen ninety-nine, Having been cast from a Parisian mold, They spent a dozen years in redesign. We postulants shall toil … Continue reading August 20: A Sort of Runic Rhyme
August 19: Ferguson
I wish that there was something I could say To staunch this wound that's bled for ten days now. Though I'm no doctor, treatments underway Are ones the reasonable would disallow. So as we watch in horror as the body Deteriorates with every “antidote,” We realize the remedy is shoddy And loudly question any who … Continue reading August 19: Ferguson
Libby Weber 