Sonnet I: To the Approaching Dawn

I fear not that my words will never grace….
And yet I dread this fast approaching dawn;
I see the minutes and the hours pass;
For dawn is yet the only constant thing
That rips me so unkindly from my pace.

Though never is my reason thus forgone;
This Lighted Spectre haunts me–this Impasse–
This Waking Nightmare from beneath will spring.
Beneath the Earth this Pale Rider waits,
His Fiery Horses chafing; will have drawn

His Chariot’s Searing Livery–unsurpassed
In glory, any but Hyperion:
Shall stream His Burning Light; and gaining fast,
Will into Hypnos’ Waiting Arms, me cast.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

Permalink

Sonnet: Stand

If I, one man alone, would fail to stand–
While others fear, with empty hope, one braver
Than themselves unto the breach, their craven
Act, beneath his mantle of command

Might hide; or fail to bravely raise my hand,
His side–when better led, with honour, gave
My pledge to such as he–to take, and save
As much as can be saved, no coward’s brand

Could sear my trust; or fail, in solitary
Rank, to muster, weak, my force of one,
While others act as beasts who fear to die,
In soul denying hope that I might care
To save their craven flesh when all is done,
And which my soul demands–then what am I?

Permalink

Intro: Who Would Stand

Would you stand up? Would I? If one lived while others fell, wouldn’t it be better to have done what one could? Would it not have been better to have died if one had n0t?

This was from a dream last night.

A dream in summer,
But only one long sentence.
Diagram, someone?

I am not sure why, but I cannot resist doing that. Be warned: I hide these within paragraphs, unindented. Can you find them all?

Permalink

Sonnet: The Hand of my Beloved

Thy hand hath stopped my fall and lifted me
To quell my tears, and cool my fervid cheeks;
Withal thy power hast thou known its plea:
To grant my heart this respite that it seeks.

Tomorrow, shall I write for thee, although
The Gods are neither fooled nor do they sleep,
But smile upon thee; surely do They know
I sing with joy their deeds an ne’er I weep.

But sweetly given me hast thou my voice,
And moved my spirit; for my hand is thine
To take thy gifted rest; though fear my choice:
That rest will fall to apathy’s decline.

Yet might for me despair make worse my plight;
Tomorrow, with thy gifts, for thee I write.

Permalink

Intro: Here

i

All your spirits are low
and the tears are hot
on your checks

then I would do anything
in my power
to give you peace.

ij

If I could write today
if I could fool the Gods
as they sleep

into thinking that your voice
speaks through my hand
for one brief moment

to give you rest
to buy you time
then I would write today.

Permalink

Sonnet: Blessings of God’s Anointed

Gaze upon me, O Lovely, and beware,
Or as thy frosts unfairly come, rejoice.
Fair-play with fortune will confound Despair
That, hideous with pride, hath shown its voice.

For never-resting, God’s anointed here
Excel: to verse thy numbered days, to bear
This work, to lend thee summer; and to year
Thy days, and keep thee and thy children fair.

In all our seasons, prisoners are we–
As checked, and sapped, and pent, as tyrants fear
All eyes the beauty we distil may see–
Who gift these days to winter they who sneer:

Though thieving Time all substance yet destroys,
We left thee more than wretched Time enjoys.

The final draft of this sonnet became part
of a short, or possibly at some point, very long
sequence; click here to read it all:

Permalink