Sonnet I | Sonnet II | Sonnet III | Sonnet IV | Sonnet V | Sonnet VI
Please note that I wrote all of these when I was a teenager, so if they suck, that's why. And yes, I was kind of obsessed with death. I got over it. :-)
Sonnet I
What never I knew, I shall know not,
For what has been shall not remain.
The fire that is now burns bright and hot:
Future and past are obscured by the pain.
I look and see nothing, hear not a sound
Save the roaring of blood and the beat of my heart.
On one side is sky, on the other is ground:
The earth is all one, and I stand apart.
All that I have is contained inside
My head, where is chaos, formless and vast.
All loves I have loved, the tears I have cried:
Dance, O you shadows, ghosts of the past!
The past may cavort while the future doth loom.
My fire burns its passion; its ash is my tomb.
Sonnet II
How lazily pleasant is summer's rain
That washes clean the earth, as though
It readies the world for life again
That in the heat doth flourish and grow.
The rain in the summer falls gentle and sweet,
Caressing the skin as a parent might.
It comes not on pounding but tiptoeing feet;
Violent and fierce is the winter's bite.
The scent of the rain fills the air, and I
Thrill to the whisper of em'rald perfume.
The verdance that soon will wither and die
Thrives with a passion, unknowing its doom.
In summer doth Nature come into her prime:
Her embrace is my balm, this most perfect time.
Sonnet III
The void is black; and bold I find
I have no fear inside me, yet
The leap doth make recoil my mind
That balks at the chasm deep and wet.
The void is dark; its wide expanse
Fills my eyes, and will not cease
Its pulse that makes the senses dance
I must but jump: I must have peace!
The void has eyes, I somehow know:
It laughs its triumph to my face.
I mock it back, my unseen foe:
I will have all, or not a trace!
I leap with joy, with fierce hot glee:
'Twill not be this the end of me!
Sonnet IV
The grass is moist beneath my feet,
The birds in hymn unseen surround.
A zephyr makes relaxed the heat
While flowers nod: peace all around.
In fluffy white above doth swim
A pair of children, hand in hand
Like fish, exploring, on a whim
This sea, this life, at their command.
Behind the girl her hair streams out:
Her brother's swirls about his head.
For safety, neither child need doubt:
They know they shall be protected.
Ever swims a child in airy fleece:
The clouds drift apart while I bask in the peace.
Sonnet V
When the light has faded will my world be dark
Or will there be color, beauty and shape?
When my brightly-lit home is devoid of all spark
What will happen to me when I make my escape?
Shall I fear the red pain, or welcome the peace
That comes to envelop my self in its grip?
When it's time, will I fight or go calmly with ease
In my heart: with what shield shall I face this last trip?
'Tis a question I ponder in blackness of night
When sweet sleep will not rescue my laboring mind
From its circles: and when the new morning shines bright
There's no answer to soothe: yet more questions I find.
I'll not know what I wonder until that far day
When the black-hooded specter comes stalking my way.
Sonnet VI
Behold in the Mirror a Maiden's Face
Who has not for Me a forgiving Smile
But her Eye, twinkling bold, keeps not its Place -
No ground-ward Modesty shall Her defile.
A saucy, a witty, a solemn Girl
Is this, in whose Temple shall come no One
Save He who's prepared Himself to unfurl
Before her stern Eye, 'fore Love is begun.
Yet call not Her proud, nor harsh her Judgment;
The Turn of her Lips i'th'Glass seems to say
That from sad Experience hath She been lent
The wary Discretion that haunts Her to-day.
Now douse I the Light, and see Her no more;
Yet She'll remain, till next I ope the Door.
