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- NEWER SONNETS -


Like a fish out of water, I

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was always going home, not arriving--
on the surface of life treading water,
not really living, only surviving;
tranquilized, numb to life, like my father
whose death suspended his life-long dying
and unexpectedly released his boy
to live, to dive in and begin flying,
drawn by currents both of sorrow and joy
below the face of a world before words.
Mystery!-- at the start of the second
part of a life divided into thirds.
Receptive to the watery lesson,
no longer gasping but surrendering
my heart to feeling, I drink deep and sing!

Softest Jade

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Fluttering light reveals thy tranquil form;
Your beauty is like a lotus in full bloom.
Tropical is your complexion, so warm,
Of your feathers ask I only a plume.

In a blizzard I live, in loneliness;
A wintry and forsaken path I ride.
The way out of this howling wilderness,
Is to take a step with you as my guide.

Yet my silent thoughts have somehow stirred you,
Your eyes awaken, unveiling their jade.
A tear forms within, like a drop of dew,
Though again, as a dream, I fade away.

Will you take my hand and accompany me,
Or let me continue my lonely journey?

To a True Friend

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I'm sure the sky is torn each time we've fought.
An open boat upon a raging sea,
all tossed and lost yet full of you and me.
Oh but for flow of words and stream of thought
what will appease the storm which has us caught?
I know in life there is no certainty,
except the sweet embrace of honesty.
For if the storm is quelled when truth is sought,
and leaves us drift beneath Orion's belt,
your eyes will peer into my fragile soul,
and only then will you begin to know
just where we've been and where we're sure to go.
We'll always have this stong and steady boat,
and through the wors of storms she'll stay afloat.

The Gazebo

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In blue times, when there is no evergreen,
I think of you as my reflecting pool
Wondering at the past, what might have been--
Flying to Rome, or over Istanbul.

First clouds, then sun and breeze run through my hair.
Song sparrows traverse, alighting in trees.
Berries have dropped, they surround everywhere--
Geraniums spotted on balconies.

If I could fly like planes or birds to you,
Spaces would close between these written words,
All trees' branches would disappear from view
On backward wings of flight like hummingbirds.

But I intone until it's time to go--
Watching peonies light the gazebo.

Sonnet XI from "The Rosalind Sonnets"

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You exploded into my universe, burst like a super nova
Into the frozen atmosphere of my galaxy.
Like a newly discovered comet in the November sky
You blazed, shone like a star of the first magnitude, a
New Sirius, gave birth to a new cosmology:
New suns, moons, solar systems, satellites.
I star-gazed at you as Astrophel gazed at Stella;
The sun was eclipsed by a star in this mad syzygy!

Then you fire-stormed me with a shower of meteorites
Like the Perseids in August. One of them jolted me
Like a thunderbolt, le coup de foudre, dazzled my
Eyes, kindled my love. You burnt me with your beauty.

Like a pyromaniac you set my heart on fire;
Now only your embrace can quench the flames of my desire.

On My 23rd Birthday

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Another summer salts my barren age
with its shortfall rain, the nourishing knot
of summary weed and durable oak:
but not for me; this moistness tempts the root
blind and gropingly, all impatient rage
altering stones, tunneling earth
in vain pursuit pursuing doubtful birth.

An abeyant season's proud stunted fruit
dwarfed to caricature, famished and broke
like the will it directs lacks direction.
But this bitter taste though favoring rot
will later times too waste rank infection
on itself, then hold deep the fertile blood
of past blooms firm: taut for the coming flood.

My All

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O Kimberly, me sweet loving baby
You know that I love you with all my heart
I can't wait till I make you my lady
When life will be fun and not so darn hard
When I met you last year, I was so glad
I knew from the start that you were my love
We've had some struggles I can't deny that
But when I'm with you, that's always enough
We've been together for the past twelve months
And I've never been happier than now
Thinking about what my sweet baby wants
And thinking also, what, why, when, and how
I've said this but I'll say it over again
I long for the time when I am your man

Early Morning Walk

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On an early morning walk, a sparrow
Led me to a cluster of leaves. I stood
Silently and watched the grey bird, callow
In flight, make wing, out into the aged wood.
Kneeling, I brushed away the auburn leaves
To let glisten a bantam brook. Swelled
With yesterday's fresh rain, the runlet reaves
Away a fallen leaf, from life expelled.

The sun filled sky of morn glitters upon
The placid surface of the flowing stream.
Radiating a wild beauty one
Can only hope to hold within a dream.
I then left the brook, uncovered, for a friend,
Sad, knowing the scene had played to its end.

I Want You Back

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My life hasnçt been the same since you left,
Now everything seems just like a blur,
You stole my heart, and it just seems like theft,
Now I want things to be like they were.

I want to be with you so much today,
But now you wonçt talk to me or say hi,
I hated it when you treat me this way,
I wish we could just start living a lie.

You will never know how much you hurt me,
I don't even know where to go from here,
I really don't know why you can't see,
All that I ever needed was you near.

On rainy days I sit and wonder why,
The only thing left is to say goodbye.

Sonnet to the Hummingbird

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O little one, now spring from bough to bough,
Under your tiny feet let nothing break;
O sweet reminder of the here and now,
Let all dull hearts anew with purpose quake.
Sweet pea to stock, go nuzzling every flower,
Tease out the nectar sweet with tongue and beak;
Inspire with joy all eyes and verdant bowers,
Breathe out the scent upon love's pallid cheek.
Oft I've adored your pinions raven blue,
With rapid strokes they beat the morning air;
Your heart I know not but beneath your wing -
Bright red and gold I once saw hidden there!
Such charm and more you do well so to hide,
With us let just your matchless song abide.

Sonnet to the Hummingbird

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Sonnets suck; there is no more truth to tell
I really want to rhyme line after line
However, there's no escaping this hell
To come out looking really good is fine
But to assign as homework is not good
For boring students is not a good cause
And to finish with this homework I would
If I could only receive some applause
So now that I am nearly done with this
There are only a few lines to write down
To add the romance I write the word kiss
To add the sorrow I write the word frown
Alas, I finish, seeming a little
Less squeamish, I listen to the fiddle

The Star

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Tonight, I must see my bright newfound star,
Though it is cold, though the darkness clouds me,
That star- my pride and joy, came from afar,
For me to discover, the world to see.

Nexon, I will call it, so it will be,
My star, my discovery, I own it,
Fame, money, the Nobel Prize, I'll go crazy,
Because of me, the star will be a hit.

Far away, the star sees me and wonders,
The intelligence of the human race,
"How dense these earthlings are compared to us.
Throughout the universe, I see creatures,
Some improve fast, some at a slower pace,
But none as slow as those derived from dust."

Experiment

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Mike "China" Cook, whose eyes were little slits,
Had a brown mole big above his mouth.
During recess, between his giggling fits,
He told us how, last weekend, walking south
Along the tracks, he grabbed an orange cat,
Bound her legs and threw her to the street
From the trestle to prove the truth of that
Old saying, "Cats always land upon their feet.'

He never checked to see if she was dead--
Just left her there, his broken instrument.
"She didn't, I knew she wouldn't!" China said,
Delighting in his own experiment.
The slits widened. The eyes shone bright and cold.
We looked on evil. We were nine years old.

A Night Out

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Walk into the club and see the bright lights,
Talk to the people that I haven't seen.
The DJ's been mixin' the past three nights
They all keep asking me "How have I been?".

The music is great, I'm having a blast.
My mouth gets very dry, I get a pop.
Too bad for not long this good time will last
I go back out there and hope it don't stop.

The bass keeps on pumping into my head,
It's getting late I have to be home.
My head might pound when I will go to bed
If not my parents will call my cell phone.

On the way back home with a friend of mine
We both regret that we are out of time.

Incantation (For Folken)

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I laugh when people claim to know what's true
And what is false, as if they solely gauge--
To them, I am but painter of their views,
To them, you are but picture on a page.

But there are folded souls who dance in dreams,
Whose life within the inner eye is real.
Where you are torn, my art will mend the seams;
Your wingtips draw my secret sky, revealed.

So scry my heart's blood, Love, as magick mirror,
And take my breath as wind to feed your flight!
Possess me past all reason and all fear,
Refract in me, a Hidden Star of night...

When you are naked, I must be the same;
Twinned angels fluttering in unseen flame.

School Days

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Every morning that you wake up it's another day.
You wonder what surprises it holds for you.
You want to stay in bed and let time pass away.
Your parents send you off and say you have work to do.
You finally get there and see the same old faces.
The teacher begins to lecture the class.
Then the day goes on thinking of the weekend.
He then asks you a question about earth's mass.
You want to go back home and watch MTV videos.
Daydreaming about the upcoming beach fest
Drinking a cold glass of milk and munching on oreos
Your teacher announces that there will be a test.
Sitting in class waiting on the next bell to ring
Then it finally does and you're off to the same old thing.

Dreamy Eyes And Night Visions Of Love

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You see sweet beauty but is it real truth
This worship must sleep in a cold darkness
Joy is a burdened heart weary and blue
Better honest truth than to hold jealous.

Time changes every image to gray night
Together lust and love give fair gentle touch
Two stars that show the seasons trace light
The labor of romance, a trial to clutch.

All of life's nature mocks the time apart
We smell the flowers, too fast life flows by
Our time together is taken to heart
Until eternity, until we die.

The lesson to learn from this my sonnet
It takes time to love so don't dwell on it.

Candles Burning

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Ignited now the candles cogitate
The darkest shadows flickering with doubt:
Of faith or fate do sparks originate,
Immortal flames, or cinders burning out?
Eternal flames are forged religiously,
Inspiring enigmatic godly praise;
But cinders seeks the spark's causality,
And logic fuels their ruminating days.
While waxy pillars tout philosophy
Of luminescent life and smothered death,
The fire consumes their wicks incessantly
Whose sooty ending snuffs the candle's breath.
If sparked of faith or fate, they never learn--
A mystery when candles cease to burn.

 

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