Poetry

I had my students working on sonnets the past few weeks, which they presented on the last day of school. Most were delightful. I figured I had better write one if I was making them do it, so here it is.

ODE TO A SONNET
Behold the beauty of a line that breaks
Across a poem spreading waves of words
That tell the thoughts of authors and which makes
Moments or a lifetime pierce like sharp swords
Of experience told. Just a few lines
Which are more lovely and more temperate
Leave an impression in one’s life which pines,
More! Shakespeare, Shelley, Browning aggregate;
To appellate a few poetic minds
Who shaped genre and imagination.
Read, think, love, weep, imbibe, digest those lines.
Sounds, letters, words, and space take shape, move in
And out of lives, marks left indelible
Crafted by authors incomparable.