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Monday, April 4, 2016

The Makings of a Sonnet

The poem today is a draft. I just couldn't get it refined, teach, and grade; however, I wanted to record my draft here as art of my process. I would like to say I will definitely come back to it, but, as Robert Frost pointed out, as way leads on to way I am fairly uncertain if I will be inspired to come back. So, for day 4, here is my draft sonnet.

One of the common themes in stories revolves around choices of love and lust, romantic or otherwise. This sonnet, draped as it is (for it certainly is not cleanly fitted) over a Petrarchan sonnet's frame, seeks to capture the voice of this conflicted character trying to choose between love and lust.

Draft Sonnet

When children, a sudden fear can come from
Slight, secret sounds drifting down the empty
Hallways of our minds, through the racing blood
Pounding at our temples, coming to rest like
Ice within our hearts. You, like this fear, have
Caught me off guard, driving my certain mind
Towards dissonant thoughts and heart-rending ache.
How do I balance the want with the need?

When driven to consider how much pain
Each choice brings to the ones I care most for,
I can only choose to shoulder the strain
Of bittersweet longing within my core.
For which heart to break, my soul cannot claim,
Relationships severed may not restore.

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