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- NEWER SONNETS -

Dakota Sense

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He had a way of working through a task:
relaxed hand, easy mind, patience, an eye
that caught what slipped past others. He'd deny
being special. An open face. No masks
or tricks. What made him so? If you ask,
he'll stare, mumble, shake his head, spit, tell why
deadpan: It's not always I, I, I, I
all the time, because that won't last--I ask
for help--I take care of myself--I rest--
I listen to my gut, my heart, my chest,
the wind--the natural world teaches me
care, pacing, how to best figure and see,
how to make do--the world's a mighty tool
that needs a good hand--learned that in grade school.

Cold Season

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White cloaked invader storms North where turned
Irish Celts; where bronzed Romans feared to tread;
Ivory horned Vikings raped, plundered, burned
Aryan dreams and cultures lang syne dead.
He winters in these hearts grown blue from red.
At propitious intervals, children freeze
in ditches and at bus stops, young men bleed
to death and wait six years to be released-
Anger breeds contagion; disease is freed.
Draining colour, muffling cries, sowing seed-
Corruption and despair, little white lies
over landscape battle scarred, sanitized.
The temperature is such that it will lay
unblanched like truth and dogs will have their say.

The River (Genesis 2)

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O pristine morning, first of many dawnings,
Fresh upon the new-born lands. Awaiting
Sustenance, the eyes of all turn with longings
To th' Eternal Father, with the Son creating.
From mighty Throne, the Lord sends forth a flow,
A sparkling river, life and fruitfulness instilling
In all it touches. Father, Son, and Spirit know
That all may drink and live--whoe'er is willing.
O dancing Stream! From heart of gladness springing,
Wend now thy way, thru every acre bending.
Release thy joy, the wedding song now singing
To all who hear--a song of love unending.
O Fountainhead, course down! Pour from the Tree of Life!
Rush forth, cleanse and sustain Christ's new-made wife.

Sonnet II for Judy

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Again I sit and write to thee, my love.
My muse is quiet but I'll do my best
To tell thee of my grateful thanks above
For thy dear kindness given me. I'm blest:
A home, good children, family - what could man
Want more to think upon and fill his heart?
A wonder 'tis that we should have God's plan,
But we must truly strive to do our part.
Our future may have challenges -- but know
I'll give my best to meet such gifts with thee.
Remember, love, what comes is ours to show
We understand the word -- eternity.
Let's fill our lives with service in small ways,
That we may look back fondly on our days.

VII

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Like fearsome armies, mighty to subdue,
Your ramparts much too long have stood my storm.
Your Conqueror, I wage this war to woo,
With hints of matchless feats I shall perform.
I call on potent allies to my cause:
Our valor is unlike such ever seen.
No earthly creature's fangs and deadly claws
Can barricade me from my promised Queen.
Call off your bowmen, cast away your fears;
Shrink not from me reluctantly, my Love:
Your armor cannot long resist my spears -
Lay down your weapons and release your Dove.
Embrace me now and let all doubts depart:
Ignore your head and listen to your heart.

You Told Me

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Somebody please tell me why
Where you just playing some innocent joke
Or did you only want to see me cry
Please tell me before I lose all hope

You told me you loved me and that you cared
Now I don't know if I should believe you
But then there are the good times that we shared
But maybe it's time to say we're through

Why did you tell me all of these great things
If you were only messing with my head
Now I must get out from under your wings
I asked all my friends, and that's what they said

You told me you loved me and that you cared
But you let me down and now I am scared

Rejection

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Rejection can be a terrible thing
Like when a man you love takes back his ring
You will cry and cry like never before
Your heart will feel uncontrollably torn
Whether you loved him or even if not
He has always loved you or so you thought
The man in the corner who was so shy
couldn't care less if he thought he would die
This man who has loved you since he was little
His heart was broke because it was brittle
You take his hand and pull it towards your hand
His heart is flying but soon it will land
This new man you love is not really yours
He belongs to another, through closed doors

Sonnet -1 (The Un-Sonnet)

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Oh how could I compare you to a summer's night?
I don't know how effective that would be
Your mere presence causes humans to fright
For that alone you mean the world to me
With your looks that reflect the darkest midnight
Eyes so chilling, skin so pale
Your ivory fangs flashing, a bright white
A model's dream, thin as a rail
Your touch freezes me to the core
I never see you but after day
I long for you to do it more
Quite a bit about you I could still say
You are sending me down a dark black pit
Gladly for you upon a burning ember I sit

Spot Revisited

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Shall I compare thee to a steamy afternoon
In a room not quite a circle shapéd
Overwhelming passion flower, but soon
The stallion from the mare escapéd.
Easier said than done it is my dear friend,
To leave love's bonds and ties that tightly bind;
"Loose lips sink ships," this party's at sad end;
Thy lips reveal passions to deaf and blind.
Deny! Deny! My passion's flower bent,
To tell the tale of my discretion lost,
My life's regeneration unwise spent
And forgiveness hoped for, lest too much cost.
"Out damned spot!" - cried Shakespeare's Lady MacBeth,
My Dear, the spot, my fallen grace, I fear. . .

What Light Holds Love When Day Is Dark and Done?

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What light holds Love when day is dark and done?
A shining beam, to part nightmarish dream
of lacking warmth, your love appeared to seem!
Such was before the day I saw but none
then rendered pensive doubts to God above.
Invasive black has muddled what life means
as once known light is lost beneath soft screams.
The light I knew was erased by your shun:
So now in dark with mind like shattered pane,
all once found light that was a piercing ray
has died out true unlike that flame which wanes.
For, where Flame's warmth lives on as vanquished pain,
and is recalled as pass by do the days;
my heart forgets the light held in your name.

What Light Holds Love When Day Is Dark and Done?

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A burned black hollow chestnut trunk alone,
This broken plinth that once held up the sky,
Surrounded by new growth, the violet, redbud; high
Hickories', walnuts' offered husks atone
Not for such genocide, nor does the cry
Of pileated woodpecker, teardrop
Red holly berries, nor this fresh crop,
The chestnuts' latest saplings, doomed to die.

Yet deep down in its hollow blackness spark
Silver-winged newhatched flying antlings,
Beetles burrow, a yellow wasp awaits
Warmth, sheltered treefrogs cry for mates . . .
No last rites can be said for Nature's things.
Lives do not end, no treeheart yields to dark.

Farewell to Harrisonville

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I think the time has come now I can say,
My high school days are drawing to a close.
I'm looking towards my graduation day,
What the future may hold nobody knows.

The last four years I will never forget,
The friends, the teachers, and the politics.
I'm sure there will be things that I regret.
Time will tell if the bad things will be nixed.

But now my focus turns to whatçs ahead,
Oklahoma State University.
A chance to put real knowledge in my head,
Much more than I could learn in this city.

And so in two weeks I bid you adieu,
I hope that life will always smile on you.

Heaven

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Out under the sky, so pale and lush
Floating, withheld, on the pure white beach
I am amazed as I let my hand brush
Over your face, to have your beauty reach

The farthest stars, the deepest valleys, and
Most importantly, right to my heart.
Your warmth beside me will cover the sand
As our hands clasp, we are both but one part.

My thoughts are twisting, they matter now not
As the world has collapsed on you and me
We have reached the unison that we sought
And are together, in vast harmony.

As I awake from the dream, I recall,
My girl does not know my feelings at all.

XIV

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Two planets in synchronous orbit turn
Naturally attracted to each other
Moving away only to soon return
Dance slowly as celestial lovers.
Whether this harmony be chance or Fate
Its beauty leaves me breathless and amazed
That our twin souls in such accord relate
That such passion has set my life ablaze.
There is such wonder in her slightest touch
An entire world lies within her eyes
Her shy but knowing smile imparts so much
And we can speak entirely in sighs.

I count the hours 'til I see her again,
And count myself the most lucky of men.

Lilliput

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"Our pioneers keep striking

Inwards and downwards"

          ---"Bogland," Seamus Heaney [1939--]

What made the knock so clumsily evoke
your trappings - still unfinished in this dark alloy
of dawn, where clouds and men fight to poke
and mesh you in their plots? To me, a boy,
you look petite yet grand in radiance - even as
you lie on shadowed ground where they are ants.
Embroiled in human sweat each tiny fist has
charm enough - so near extinction - to enhance
the site before you stand to propel the ground
into oblivion and walk with me beside
the lake, our home, where giant dreams
inhale and spout. Oh I am dumbfound
in the glare and shrewd device where we collide -
while time and you abandon, in extremes.

Valentine

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I don't know him yet, but i seek to find,
Those beautiful eyes which wont leave my mind.
His laugh, his smile, his beautiful hair,
Lights up my life when i'm full of despair.
Who is this man that is in my sweet dreams?
We talk nightly on the internet screen.
He wants us to meet next week on a date,
Oh what will i wear?I'm in such a state!
I search through the endless crowds at the station
Oh i tremble with anticipation.
My heart pounds like waves beating on the shore,
As those eyes meet mine, that smile i'm sure.
This man i've known on the internet line,
My sweet dreams come true, forever he's mine.

Relative Velocity

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Our crazy vehicles slam through the days,
neglecting alibis and scribbled spawn.
You watch for pause; you try to tempt the dawn
from slipping when you sleep, your eyelids graze
their salty spheres, and day glides into phase.
I list oblivions: initials drawn
in wood, your temples shifting through a fawn-
brown lock. You work your jaw in crooked ways
in sleep as if haranguing alibis
from time. "I stopped here once, I swear!" you dream,
"I left a hobo's mark upon this post!"
So in your dream, I stalk these knife marks, spy
to find our names in wood, but. . .only seams
cut madly from a moving car by ghosts.

The Best Times of Your Life Are in High School

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Summer is over and school has begun.
The homework I'll have will pile up for me.
Working till midnight is always real fun.
I now look towards weekends with days of three.
More stress than there should be, the bell just rang.
October break comes, and soon winter too.
With leaves of yellow like lemon meringue.
We'll probably have work assigned - woo-hoo!
Our few breaks will be over too quickly.
But Spring Break offers refuge for a week.
Just in time to get our grades quarterly.
The outlook on school life looks really weak.
Everyone does it so I can't complain.
Just doing it all might drive me insane.

Work Damage

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A moment I sat pondering my life
But that one instant was too much to take;
I saw a girl who relished in her strife
And whom only a nothing time would make.
I gasped in shock to see my one mistake--
I'd let my youth flee, missing innocence.
No thought for toys, my jobs prevented break
From problems, full of worthless decadence.
To earn money to thrive was my defense.
With heavy, worried creases in my heart,
I felt Truth's cold and bitter hand reach hence
And point out what my mind had seemed to start:
"Though man be busy since before his birth,
What is a life when work prevents true worth?"

Didactic Sonnet

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The octave must contain a certain theme,
Or put an argument, whatever they
May be; a private view, perhaps a dream
Now vividly recalled. Then, like wet clay
Upon a potter's wheel, the mind will mould
The stuff, impressing it with pattern clear-
Imagined in the brain, before the cold
Flat commonplace of other thoughts appear.

The sestet now is reached. Ideas bred,
And set out in the octave are resolved,
Providing satisfaction both for head
And heart; a tying-up of threads involved;
Completed by the clinching couplet's force:
The hard-won lines of any sonnet's course

Our Love

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I'm in love with this boy, so cute, so sweet
He is more lovely than I thought he'd be
His trust I have and I intend to keep
I'm gonna prove my love, he soon will see.

Many times we have spent talking away
We talk about plans for our future life
We never are bored, we have fun all day
I can not wait till I will be his wife.

No one knows what our future may hold for us
We share a bond that no one else can break
People say it wont last, they say it's lust
Our love will last, our future weçll soon make.

I'm a slave to his heart and proud to be
I will not love anyone more than he.

Good Night Kiss

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I am not sleeping too much in my head
And in the morning feeling just the same
I am thinking something is left unsaid
I think for you I am going insane.

Don't even ask me why this is goodbye
You shouldn't think about doing me wrong
What's done can't be undone so let me cry
Tell me you love me before it's too long.

So baby tonight I might let you in
Just know when you go your touch I will miss
No need to fight I'm yours so let's begin
Our gentle sweet love ends with a soft kiss.

I'll be the one to hold you in the night
Just don't leave me lonely in the day's light.

The Perils of Flute Playing (A Metaphor for the Cycle of Life)

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The wonderous hero walks onwards to
the city of his birth, playing to them.
The self concious young laddie had a few
errands to run, his trousers had no hem.
Yet from afar a predator stalked him
crawling through coarse undergrowth, in persuit,
And from this distance her chances were slim.
She followed the man with the magic flute.
While the music appealed to the ear a
small blue chaffinch tootled a sweet reply.
The bird took flight because its nest was far,
Disturbed by the stealthy huntress who crawled by.
The young fellow took note of this fact but
Was too late cos he got shot in the foot!

A Tormented Heart

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Cupid has forsaken me with this,
My love will ne'er relinquish her sweet heart,
And now she will not offer me a kiss,
In fact it is an error on my part.
I am tormented by the cruel Dian,
Cupid and his arrows cançt get through,
She's made me look like a cowardly man -
And now I don't know what I have to do.
I really want her love for me to take,
Instead she loves another man; not me.
Oh, what sorrow her turquoise eyes doth make,
For he proposéd to her first, you see.
All this heavy weight, my heart hath carried,
In two weeks to this man, she will get married.

Notes from an Italian Journey

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Left Livorno in a bright, sapphire dawn,
White mountains, crumpled like a thrown back sheet,
Recede, as we sail into stunning heat -
A dusk mauve streak, fading to smudged fawn.
Last night, how your eyes shone. I remember
Reflected in a glass of spicy red,
Yellow candlelight, a dying ember..
You laughed. I conjectured - how soon till bed!
Noon: dolphins leap through the bow wave's foam,
Passed Capraia, a rusty heap, bare, treeless,
I think of sad, bewildered Ulysees,
Captured by Calypso, yet yearning for home.
Beyond love, lies no fond cosy solitude,
Just empty chaos, wherein dark matters brood.

Restless Nights

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Rode in a coach with stained glass walls alight
A dozen gleaming red roses he holds
Parked some where special to view the dark night
Bad vibes creeping up my back keeps me cold
His satin pink lips beg for a sweet kiss
Not everyone can get what they desire
The absence of me is what he shall miss
Things he once said soon may make him a liar
I hear his sullen voice pleading with mine
I once heard all is fair in love and war
I told myself this would end in good time
Apologies made us close as before

His once begging lips will beg no longer
We sit together as the wind falls somber

 

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