Ten Sonnets

[Michael Morris]

These were originally posted on the Circvs. Members over their know the details behind these which I won't divulge here. I'm just posting them since I feel they turned out rather well and I want to share them.

I use a structure of my own devising here, the rhyme scheme is abcabcdefgefgd


I.

Songs and poems most often speak of love,
For rhyme gives reason to what reason can
Never sway and rhythm that can defy
The most eloquent and loftiest of
Speakers among all of the World of Man
To enunciate however they try.

Yet we try my love; for try we must dear.​

For as uncounted as the sands of time
And unnumbered as the drops of the sea
Are the songs we sing for the ones we love.
So hear now each note sounded in sublime
Tribute to the beauty that I do see
Before me and of whom none are above.

Time has come to sing for who I love here​

II.

Nearly two years have passed. I am alone
With my dull memory of hope dying
As embers of a magnificent fire.
I now know that I should never have thrown
All caution to the wind and in trying
I bought a pain that punished my desire.

No one ever hurt me as much as you.
​

My heart tells me hope yet, for it is a
Desperate creature straining for any
Glimmer of favor no matter how faint.
My reason tells me hope not, for in a
Moment you broke my heart -- all memory
Of you is now shadowed beneath this taint.

And now I curse the day I first met you.
​

III.

I once heard if you truly love someone
You must have the courage to set them free
And if they return then they love you too.
You have returned, but to what end? No one
May ever know, perhaps not even you.

Your heart is locked, and I hold not the key.
​

You haunt me. You taunt me. Without knowing.
You hurt me. You burn me. Without seeing.
You spite me. You smite me. Without feeling.
Without knowing you rule over my dreaming.
Without seeing you control my hours waking.
Without feeling you block my hope of escaping.

Your heart is locked, and I hold not the key.
​

IV.

Once, long ago, I was free, I could see
My life ahead of me and I was free
To believe that I could go wherever.
Once, long ago, I believed I was free
To accomplish any dream, I could reach
For any goal that I had whenever

But that was before the day I knew you.
​

Now I am nothing but a spoony bard
Singing the songs that will never be heard
Writing the words that will never be read.
I was a fool in the name of my heart
Ignoring all counsel, acting absurd
I died that day, and yet I am not dead

So I am after I was broke by you.
​

V.

You have set me at war within myself
The mind and the heart each are in full hate
One to the other when you are near me.
My heart still fully loves you though you dealt
It pain and it will not ever abate
To reason - it wants you to be with me.

So I ask, Do you love me? I must know.
​

But my mind reasons you never loved me
It does not accept the reasons you gave.
It wants to follow the counsel of those
Far wiser in matters like these and be
Rid of you, For your choice is now made
Or so my mind would now like to suppose

And I fear that you love me - I can't know.
​

VI.

Once upon a time there was a girl named
Sondra Kaye. My imbecilic farewell
To her was a sonnet such as this one.
In four years in high school I ne'er proclaimed
Anything out of fear of her dispel
Of my dreams of love. And then she was gone.

And I swore never to not try again.
​

I said three words I thought I'd never say.
You hurt me in reply, you left but then
You returned to me. I am confused by
You, and I do not understand this way.
I cannot make any sense of you and
I am sorely afraid. I don't know why.

But I swore never to not try again.
​

VII.

There is much to be said for silence and
those moments alone in thought when there is
No one around to distract from your dreams.
Wisdom too can grow up strong in the sand
Of quiet contemplation, and such bliss
Was once as soothing to me as sunbeams.

But I have seen light and been burned by it.
​

There's much to be said for cacophony --
The turbulence of being full alive
To the sensations of our existence.
Folly too has its place in life you see
For who among the wise would ever strive
To of all love's many riddles make sense?

Lovers are fools - it is prerequisite.
​

VIII

Did you know that you are most beautiful?
You are, but did you know? If so you doubt -
Each glance betrays your lack of confidence.
It is sad for me to see your bashful
Thoughts drive you far away from me and out
From my life and to some other fate hence.

Don't do it. You will regret as I do.
​

For I too doubted myself when someone
Fell in love with me. I did not see her
Overtures for what they all truly were.
I turned her away for I thought no one
Would ever love ugly me. I hurt her
Without knowing - Now perhaps its my turn.

Such pain of regret I would not wish you.
​

IX.

I am never as happy as when I
Hear your voice and yet when you are not near
All the world is faint as a day in fall.
I look forward to each meeting and I
Fear the day that another won't come dear.
Maul my heart for its impetuous gall.

In one moment you lift my spirits up.
​

See I am never as melancholy
As when you are away for I am as
A tree that has been robbed of sight of day
Becoming weak and withering slowly
As the memory fades of what it has
A strength unequaled in the bright sun ray.

In one moment you can tear my heart up.
​

X.

I cannot wait for you much longer love.
I must seek my future wherever it may lie.
And though I would have it be shared with you
I cannot wait forever for you answer love.
For now my love is unrequited by
You. Soon I must know what you wish to do.

Soon I must have your love or have your leave
​

You have buried your feelings deep my love
But the time approaches when you need to
Answer yes or answer no to me dear.
I do not want your dismissal but love
I would prefer that the heartache end to
This uncertainty for my future here.

For I am ready for joy or to grieve.
​

 

[Blackrat]

I use a structure of my own devising here, the rhyme scheme is abcabcdefgefgd

Interesting take on sonnet. I liked them. I might need to read them over a few times before I can say more.