Now. As to the organization. I have primarily divided the works into more topical
sections: attempting to divide the poetry by girl about, poems to/about God,
poems that just touch on life in general, and miscellaneous poetry.
All will become clear as you progress.
As a breif disclaimer: For all those who read this poetry and know
the things or people that I'm talking about: I make no claims as to
the accuracy of any sentiments of facts expressed in these poems. I
merely write about how I feel at the time. For that matter, for plenty
of these poems, the experience of writing them was so cathartic that I
felt differently soon after. So, yeah. Take them for what they're worth.
The Potentiality Cycle:
Girl Two:
Girl Three:
God:
Life:
Miscellaneous:
Back to the Front Page
Girl One:
To The Girl: Part One -2/09/04
This is part one of the "To The Girl" cycle. It is rhyming but not
metrical. Four stanzas. I don't think it's my best, but it was her favorite.
It was originally alternately titled "The Lowest Creature".
To The Girl: Part Two -2/09/04
This is part two of the "To The Girl" cycle. It is neither really
rhyming nor metrical. Just kind of free-verse.
To The Girl: Part Three -2/09/04
This is part three of the "To The Girl" cycle. Also essentially free-verse.
It's probably my favorite of the three, even though it's not structured at all.
I just kind of like how it turned out.
St. Valentine's Day Prayer -2/14/04
This was my first sonnet ever. It was written on a Valentine's Day spent alone.
It follows the Shakespearian rhyme scheme.
I Know That You See Deeper -2/21/04
This is also a sonnet in the Shakespearian scheme (It will be a little
while before I vary). It has what I possibly consider my worst title /ever/.
I merely took the first line of the poem, which is cheap. I'm also not very
fond of the final couplet. It just never really satisfied me.
The Ash Wednesday Failure -2/25/04
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. It was written on Ash Wednesday, hence the
title. I actually still like this one a lot, though I'm never sure if people
really /get/ the final couplet. Ah well.
The Lonely Captain's Prayer -3/01/04
Also a Shakespearian sonnet. It compares the poet to a nautical captain,
and the girl to the stars. I don’t know how well the metaphor comes across
but it works out well in my mind, so I still like it.
HE still cries "Wait!" -3/07/04
Shakespearian sonnet. I believe that this is the first title that I wrote
that works as a reference outside of the sonnet itself, rather than a reference
to something inside of the sonnet. As such, I like it, though I didn't pull the whole poem
off very well. The premise turned out to be wishful thinking anyways.
Cupid's Folly -4/01/04
This is pretty much free-verse with a few odd rhymes. I can't say that
I think it's anything too spectacular, but I like the metaphor still.
Just one of those things that pops into your head, and you have to write
down then can never rewrite again. Yeah... this is from after I told her.
(This May Be) The Last Poem I Ever Write You -5/02/04
This is another Shakespearian sonnet. This marks the first poem where
I really start playing around with the titles, mostly in the form of
parentheses and external rather than internal references. I still really
like this one, content-wise. It's about falling out of love, and the
possibility of love again.
When "Close" Becomes "Strangers" (Our Last Kiss) -7/11/04
Another Shakespearian sonnet. I really like the title on this one.
In fact, all around, this is actually one of my favorites from my
collection. The imagery is of our love itself as a person, referencing
Snow White. It breaks meter in the last two lines, I'm sure you'll notice.
I feel that, lest you think I'm a sicko, I should once again stress the
fact that this poem is speaking about the /love/ as dead, rather than
the girl. You know... just to make sure.
Pulled Westward (But Facing East) -8/16/04
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. It's not one of my favorites, but
it's okay I guess. It's about feeling inclined to do what you know
to be stupid things. And hope, I guess, but a fool's hope.
Comprehend the Sun -10/16/04
This is a later revisitation of the situation, and quite a bitter
little ditty, really. It's four stanzas of iambic trimeter, with a final
quatrain of tetrameter. I kind of like the title, though it's nothing clever.
Mustard Gas Fairy (Come And Lay Me To Bed) -3/25/05
Another revisitation of the subject, co-inciding with a literal visit.
It is a proper Spenserian Sonnet (abba abba cdfcdf) and, again, quite a
bitter little thing. I absolutely love it. Strangely enough, when I wrote
it, I was feeling hurt and bitter, but the feelings left pretty soon after
it was done. I guess that's life for you. Write while you feel it, because
things are never as bad or tragic as they seem.
Cupid Come and Cover (This Multitude of Sins) -4/14/05
This is the second in a series of Illiad-themed poems I did. It is a proper
Spenserian sonnet. It deals with the stupid things that we sometimes do because
of Love. How it won't let us give up, but instead we keep giving second-chance
after second-chance, even though we just get hurt every time. I believe that when
I read it to some people, they said, "Awwww..." and thought it was cute. I guess they
only really caught the last few lines, which do sound nice if taken out of context.
Taken /in/ context, they make me shudder. Guilty as charged.
Potentiality: Part One -9/28/04
This is the first part of the Potentiality Cycle, which is a cycle
of sonnets, each about a different girl, all of whom have something
in common. I'll leave it to you to discover what it is. The metaphor
in this compares a potential love to a potential child.
An Apple A Day In Eden (Potentiality Pt. Two) -12/24/04
A lovely Christmas Eve poem, and the second poem and second girl in
the Potentiality Cycle. This poem was written during a rather depressed
and self-bitter night. Thus, it is unfortunately free-verse. It makes
half-hearted attempts at both rhyme and meter but, I think, falls short
of each. I do enjoy the title though.
Charybdis Smile (Potentiality Pt. Two and a Half) -1/01/06
A lovely New Years Day poem, this girl seems to like being written about on Holidays. A further reflection, two years later. This poem should not technically exist, seeing as each "potentiality" girl is only supposed to get one poem. I never intended to write it, it was just one of those short bursts of lines that comes to me in the shower and won't leave until I write it down. I really like it though.
... That I Have A League. (Potentiality Pt. Three) -02/18/05
This is a Shakespearian sonnet, rhyme-wise. It follows an irregular,
yet consistent, meter. Third poem, third girl. I like the title to this
one a lot though. It is actually, as seen by the ellipses, a continuation
or completion of the last line of the poem. I like that a lot.
Deprived of All The Flavor That You Have (Potentiality Pt. Four) -02/18/05
This is a conventional Shakespearian sonnet. Fourth girl, fourth poem.
I'm not sure I really like the title. It's an addendum to the eighth line
of the poem. I'm not sure how well it really works though. The message though
works out fine. This is the final poem in the Potentiality Cycle, so far.
You Probably Shouldn't Be Hearing This (It Probably Shouldn't Exist) -2/11/05
This is the first of Girl Two's sonnets. It is Shakespearian in scheme
and meter. It deals with /planning/ out relationships, and when things
go differently than you expected. I'm not exactly happy with the couplet,
but the title more than makes up for that.
... To Hold You (The Science of Failure) -2/11/05
The final Girl Two sonnet. Also Shakespearian. It's essentially a different
stab at the same theme as before. I like it better though. There are a few,
in my mind, necessary breaks in meter, but I think they work. Incidentally,
this is the first poem title that I did that completes the last line of the
sonnet, as can be seen by the ellipses. It just came to me all of a sudden,
and it still makes me smile.
Introductions Are In Order (My Name Is... And Yours?) -3/21/05
Girl Three currently only has this one to her name. We'll see if any more are
created. It is written in four stanzas of terza rima with a heroic couplet
of e's. I like it quite a bit. The volta comes in at line 9 quite well, and
the couplet blends in nicely and brings closure.
The Odds Are Phenomenal (Either For Or Against) -3/23/05
Here is the second, just two days later! Admittedly, I almost forced myself to
write this one because I wanted to at least do two. However, instead of following
the usual pattern of me loving my poems for a few weeks before I admit their faults,
I hated this one when I finished writing it. I didn't like any of the imagery, and a
lot of the lines sound as forced as they were. I like the title though, it's got some
class. Upon re-reading it though, I like it more. Still not my favorite, but I like it.
The rhyme scheme follows my made up pattern (abc acd ade abeba) except that the last...
pentuplet? Is that a word? Anyways, the last five lines go fbebf. I couldn't find two more
a's that worked with what I wanted, especially after I found the last line.
Twenty-Four Hour Per Second Silence (These Conversations Always Are) -4/04/05
This is a slightly modified Spenserian sonnet, going: abba acca dfedfe. I like it a lot.
For some reason, I had a lot of plant-imagery in my head that day. It works out though.
It's actually written about a specific moment in a conversation that has yet to take place,
except for the recursive pattern of thought that loops through my head in three minute cycles
when I'm trying to get to sleep.
The Heat and Salt and Frenzied Rush of Red (Moving From The Center Out To Us) -4/05/05
This is another Metaphysics poem. I had the basic idea of the last two lines in my head
for a day or so, then when it came down to actually writing the main body of the poem, I
decided to expand on a theme that I had hinted at in the previous day's poem (see above).
That's why the "face or name" bit is so similar. I like the plant vs. blood imagery. The rhyme
scheme is in octave-sestet form. It goes: abcddbca efgefg. I think it works well enough, though
the b and c do seem to get a little bit lost.
Measured In Degrees (No Distance Has Been Traveled) -4/06/05
This one was written late at night in the chapel, if I recall correctly. The rhyme scheme is aa bcd cdcd bcd aa. It is supposed to be a sort of cyclical pattern, representing a spinning head and reeling emotions. Which is what the poem is about really: how an insecure, fragile attraction changes so easily from joy to fear.
Penelope Victorious (Aphrodite At A Loss) -4/12/05
This is an envelope sonnet. It is the first of a couple poems that I wrote based in imagery
from the Illiad. It deals specifically with Penelope and Odysseus, and the contrast of their
love with the big to-do made over Helen. I like it. It's definately one of the "Awww... that's
sweet"er poems that I've done. I guess I'm good for more than merely bitter love poetry, when
the situation merits it.
Aeternal Longing (Harvest is at Hand) -4/19/05
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. It uses a vineyard metaphor to describe the process of having to let love wait for its proper time. I am pretty well pleased with how it turned out. The word Aeternal comes from the Latin for "season", so it translates to "Seasonal Longing" with a play on the word "eternal".
The Answer to My Question (An If -> Then Statement) -4/22/05
This is another modified Spenserian sonnet. It goes: abba cddc eeeeee, with the last three lines
also having internal e rhymes. A little strange. I'm really not happy with the title. For some
reason, it just doesn't click with me. I do enjoy some of the Norse/Greek imagery that I got
to use. I also played around with internal rhymes in the sestet. I'm not sure how that turned
out. It's alright, but it definately sounds a little clumsy sometimes.
Call Me Cautious (Pot to Kettle) -4/23/05
This title had been floating around in my head for a while, and I really like it. I'm always
surprised by how many people have never heard the expression "the pot calling the kettle black".
What do they teach kids in these schools? It is a modified Spenserian. It has some good imagery
that I really like, nothing actually to do with pots and kettles though. Dogs this time. I also
like the last few lines. They're just nice. Again, a positive love-poem. It's nice to be able to
write positive things.
Half a Heart of Flesh (And Half of Thorns) -4/26/05
Another modified Spenserian. There is a lot of nice blood-imagery, which I like. The sentiment
is very nice and positive as well, which is good to see. The main sestet-premise had been floating
around for a little while before I finally coughed it up. Yeah. Not much else to say.
Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do Right? (Gen. 18:25) -5/13/05
This poem was written when I was feeling a bit down. So, yeah. It's a little more emo than I usually
get these days, I guess. I really like it though. It is a Shakespearian sonnet. It primarily uses, once again,
Biblical Judas-imagery. I like how each image can play into the others though. It's very versatile. The title
is a quotation from Scripture that I like. The citation is in parentheses. I hope you caught that one.
Upon Hanging Up the Phone (And Looking at the Sky) -5/25/05
This is a Spenserian-proper sonnet. Those are always fun to have written. :) In a way, it breaks
the vow I'd made to stay away from flowery imagery and such, but... oh well. I felt like it. It was
written in a happy mood. It uses mainly space-imagery, which is one of my favorite types. Space is
definately cool. It's a thumbs-up place to be.
What If I'm Wrong (And You're Looking For A Way Out?) -6/28/05
This one is a little different in form. It contains two sestets with a closing heroic couplet. It
works well though... I might use it again in the future. Especially if I can find an official name
for it because well... I'm just pretensious like that sometimes. Um... I guess I'm back to some of
the old familiar subject-matter. Paranoia this time, I guess. This is the first time I've ever posted
a poem about a girl that I know she is going to read too... even if I guess it's more about me than her
when you get down to it... That's a little wierd too. Anyways. I like some of the imagery in this
but it shows no consistant theme... there isn't really even a whole lot of metaphor or symbolism. Whatever.
Would not it feel just like the touch of God? (To they who’d never felt before) -7/11/05
This is another Spenserian-proper sonnet. I kind of like it, even though there are some clumsy bits. I
honestly intended it to be a kind of lonely sad poem until I finished the sestet, then it all just kind
of got happier from there. I don't know what to say, it's completely out of my control! ;) The title
references and expands on the 8th line. That's really all I have to say.
Girl Befriended (It’s a Start) -7/16/05
This is a modified Spensarian sonnet that actually takes the external rhyme of the first quatrain and makes
it the external rhyme of the second. If I were /really/ clever, I would have done the same with the other rhyme,
but I didn't really feel like doing the work. :) Ironically (I think), this poem is written/composed on the back
of the same sheet of paper as What If I'm Wrong (And You're Looking For A Way Out?), two poems up. I think
it was unintentional, but I like the contrast. Once again, you might have to use Pantheon.org for some of the
references. As a possible point of interest, originally lines 8 & 9 were switched, as well as lines 13 & 14 (of
course). Switching those few lines, esp. the last two really /does/ change the meaning a lot. I'm happy with the
way I settled on it though. Yep. High-fives all around.
A Simple Touch (Soon Forgotten) -8/29/05
This is a modified Spenserian sonnet. It deals with the awkward situation of being in a relationship in that early stage when you still feel wierd touching the other person. Maybe it's just me, but that can be the hardest part of the relationship to get past initially. I especially like the first stanza here, but I am relatively pleased with the rest as well.
An Apology in Advance (Please Read This When I Fail) -9/14/05
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. It is, as stated, an apology for my times of weakness. It is a pretty accurate representation of my feelings on the issue. It was to be written on our one year anniversary card.
Distinguish and Define (Life's Not a Circle but a Line) -2/11/06
This is a modified Spenserian sonnet, the first post-breakup poem. It deals with, as the title suggests, the feeling of finding your life suddenly very sharply distinguished from the other person's where before there was a unity. The title also refers (in the parentheses) to the fact that this is not merely a return to the way things were before, and never can be. Life is not cyclical, but each new change builds off of the others.
Are Those Our Eyes (Depicted There So Bright) -5/09/06
This poem is a rarity in my "portfolio", a non-sonnet. It does not have any rhyme scheme really, and its only meter is a more organic "flow". It deals with the concept of burning/throwing away/deleting everything that reminds you of the other person post-breakup. Some people do that, but I just have never been able to. I still have everything, even the little, seemingly insignificant things, that any girl I've liked has given me. Well, read the poem to find out why...
Seven Times Daily -5/03/03
This poem is written in fours stanzas of terza rima. It was written during
a period of time when I rejected God, and so is a little dark. I am not sure on
the exact date of its composition, so I have dated it approximately. I like how the
terza rima worked out though. There is an internal rhyme in the unrhymed e-line
that balances things out nicely. And I certainly enjoy the imagery.
Outshine The Sun (I Swear I Would) -5/03/03
This poem was written during the same period, and is also dated approximately.
It is four quatrains on the theme of how wasted a life without God is, because
I certainly realized /that/. In fact, this stands as the only poem that I have
ever /retitled/. It was originally titled "Waste", but I didn't like that.
The Beginning and the End -4/26/04
This was written a while after my eventual return to God in February of '04.
As I recall, it was a simple stream-of-consciousness sort of thing, but still
manages to be written in seven quatrains of iambic tetrameter. I do enjoy it
even now. Except the title, I don't like that very much.
Behold the Lands -7/06/04
I must say, this one was also stream-of-consciousness, but it didn't turn
out nearly as well. It's pretty much free-verse, though it approaches meter
in some places, feebly. I mean, content-wise it's not bad. It just wasn't pulled
off very well.
Midnight Prayer -10/16/04
This is one of my few prayer-sonnets (the "Oh God, make her like me!" sonnets
do /not/ count). It actually turned out well enough. It is Shakespearian. The
title is just /barely/ acceptable at best, but what can you do? It's nothing
profound, just simple. I guess that's okay.
Comes The Day (A Revelation Found) -2/17/05
This is another Shakespearian sonnet. It is about seeing what God is trying
to do through /His/ eyes rather than our own mistaken opinions about our lives.
I like the title, even though it's just a segment of the last line, because
I think it sounds good nevertheless.
Come The Cold, The Sacred Storm (Prometheus' Work Undone) -3/22/05
This is a sonnet in no particular form. I just sat down in class one day and planned
out a rhyme scheme that goes: abc acd ade abeba. And... I just started writing. I'm
not sure where the idea came from. I don't generally sit down for the purpose of
writing "God poems". When I do, they tend to turn out sounding a little corny.
I like how this one ended up though, even the title.
Though I Was Licked From Ancient Ice (Set My Heart Aflame) -3/24/05
This sonnet came out in a very strange rhyme-scheme. It started as abb cdd abb cdd ee.
After writing it though, I realized that it flowed much better as abbc dda bbc dde e.
So that's what it is. Like I said, a little wierd. Also: the b and d lines are all in
tetrameter, while the a, c and e lines are in pentameter. Just playing around. I do enjoy
this poem a lot. It says a lot about me and God currently. It also has some great Norse
external-referencing in the title. Written, of course, during Metaphysics.
Iscariot -05/03/05
I began this in Metaphysics, but I realized soon that it was too large of a metaphor
to fit into fourteen lines, or at least to do full justice to it in that few. So, this
is the first non-sonnet that I've written in almost forever. I finished it up outside of
class that day. The day that, unbeknownst to me, was an anniversary of a few other poems of
mine from two years back. It is good to see how I've changed in the time. The thesis is just
about as opposite as it gets from those previous. Its form is five envelope quatrains, two ababab
sestets and a final quatrain of aaaa. The imagery involves the Greek concept of Hades and the
people in there, as contrasted with the Christian message of redemption. I like how it turned
out. It's funny that the title of the longest poem I've written in years is the shortest title
I've written in a /long/ time. I guess that with sonnets there's usually /something/ else that
you want to say that didn't fit into fourteen lines, and that goes in the title. When I was done
with this, there was really nothing else to say on the subject. So, unfortunately, I had to go with
an internal rather than external reference. It's okay though. It's fitting.
My Nightly Prayer (Is That You've Got Me Too) -5/27/05
This is a modified Spenserian sonnet. It was written at about three AM, when you look back on
your day and your life and say, "Wow. Did I do /anything/ worthwhile today? Am I /ever/ going
to do anything worthwhile?" So... it's a little bit of a downer, but that's okay. I'm down with
that. ;) It doesn't really use any imagery, but that was part of the point of it so... yeah.
Mission accomplished. High-fives all around.
Scarcely a Revelation (Life is Repetition) -6/15/05
This one is approximately dated, since I didn't date the piece of paper when I wrote it. I
didn't title it either, which left me in a bind, thinking up a good title (I don't think I
found one) while my brain is mush from a mid-summer cold and working a lot. I don't particularly
like this one very much either. It's really a bit of a clumsy first exploration into the theme
that I feel I more accurately depicted below. It is a Spenserian proper sonnet, with a starting
octave rather than two quatrains because I thought that read better. Yeah. Maybe it'll grow on me.
...Nor How I Merit One Red Drop of Sacrifice -6/19/05
This one, I like. Beginning with the title, moving on through, and coming back to the title
which is, as indicated, a continuation of the last line to the point of essentially being
another line in septameter itself. Which is wierd, but if you say it right it works. This
is another one of those that you practically /can't/ read without reading the title again at
the end. I like that. It explores better than the one just above the sort of thing that God
was stressing with me at the time. As it is, I haven't really written much recently. I wish
I could more, but frankly, I'm just tired all the time, and the working life doesn't have that
much emo /or/ metal in it. It might be a little indie, but I never claimed that title really.
Anyways, this one's Spenserian proper, with an octave, again because it sounded better. Yep.
The Way I've Made You (Not the Way You've Grown) -6/14/06
This one is also pretty good. It was started in a fit of inspiration one morning, as I was trying
to hurry out the door to work. I got the third stanza roughed and the first line of the second one
About three days later, I came back and finished it. It is about God and His Church. It deals with
the analogy of the plant and the gardener, and how often God's methods can seem cruel when we
don't believe that they are for our greater good. Praise the Lord for His chastizements!
A Final Note -Date Unknown
As you can tell by the title, this is definitely one of my earlier poems. The
date is uncertain because I didn't type it into the file, so all I know is that
It was written before July 16th, 2004. Probably at /least/ a year before.
still ranks among my favorites though. It is a kind of exasperation poem at
the world and life in general. It is four stanzas that rhyme: abab cdcd efef gggg.
Something Primal -Date Unknown
This one is dated as approximately as the one before. Probably sometime 2003.
It is Shakespearian in rhyme but has no real consistent meter. It is, again,
a poem of general disillusionment with life. I was a real cynic before I actually
started /living/. Or perhaps I was a fake cynic. I became a /real/ cynic for a while,
but decided that it was much more fulfilling to be a romantic idealist.
Upon The Occasion -Date Unknown
This one is, again, probably from sometime in 2003, but I am not sure. It also
follows the Shakespearian rhyme-scheme, but has its own funky meter. I was playing
around. It deals with the concept of dying alone in a hospital, likely after a car
accident or something. I was, again, very inexperienced. You can tell early writers
by their unflagging energy when it comes to writing depressing tripe that they have
not lived. It seems to be part of the bargain for them. Writing = Life Sucks. Tripe.
I like the title though.
Apologies In Advance (I Know My Feelings Fail) -2/01/05
This poem is loosely connected to Girl Two but, not being /about/ her or the situation
particularly, I decided to place it in this section. It was written about the three
Cardinal Virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. Essentially how these three make no /sense/
outside of God. So I guess it /could/ go in the God section, but it's fine here. It may
be a bit of a downer as well, but at least it's a lived downer, not ripped off drama I read
on someone else's "xanga", which was probably fake to begin with. It is Shakespearian.
... The Ancient Proteus Takes." (He Will Not Take The Day) -2/22/05
This is likely one of the best titles I've ever written. Not only does it complete
the final line and make a wonderful external (and /mythological/) reference, it also
has both parentheses and an end-quote in it (the open-quote occurs in the poem proper)!
I was giggling for days after I wrote it. It is about destroying negative "paradigms"
(sorry, lack of a better word). It is ultimately a very positive poem. A very "go-get-em"
poem. Which is the kind I like. It is an envelope-sonnet: abba cddc effe gg.
Even Odin Cannot See (Nor Hugin Understand) -3/03/05
I like this title, and this poem, a lot. In it, I get to go nuts with Norse mythological
references, which I love, and I even get to rhyme Yggdrasil! It is a poem that is about
death, but... weirdly. The best I can say it is that it's about an /earthy/ death. Not
in any depressing way but just: what if, when we died, it was like /this/ instead? The
poem itself is, surprise, a sonnet. Its rhyme scheme is: abab cdcd efg efg.
Whose the Heart that Beat Inside My Breast? (I Know It Was Not Mine) -3/15/05
This is okay, I guess. I downloaded a whole list of sonnet rhyme-schemes to play around
with, and this one was listed on the sheet as a "Keats Sonnet". It goes: abc abd cae cdf df
and, quite frankly, just doesn't seem to work very well. It could be my meter too. It was
written in trochaic tetrameter, with the unstressed syllable left off of the front until
the volta at the eleventh line, after which it comes in. So beginning and ending most of the
lines with a stressed syllable makes for some slightly awkward reading. The other thing is that
I think I may have spent too much time in simple descriptors up until the volta. I like how
suddenly the end kind of springs on you though. This poem is loosely related to Girl Three, but
finds its home in the Life section ultimately.
Where the Ducks Have Gone (A Thinly Borrowed Metaphor) -3/17/05
This poem is written in terza rima with a final heroic couplet. It borrows, as the title
says/implies, from Catcher in the Rye (which is one of my favorite books) the metaphor of
life as a carousel, but takes a different spin (har har) on things. I really like how the
couplet turned out in this one. It almost seems to make the last four lines a quatrain, so
that the final e really hits you with the full force of its realization. I like the message
too. The Volta comes in at line 10, just in case you were wondering.
Without Pride (Den or Mate) -3/31/05
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. Although it is written to/about a girl, it is no girl in
specific, but rather a /type/ of girl, thus it is placed in the Life section rather than
any of the others. Its words probably come from listening to too much emo recently... it's
a little biting. I like it a lot though. It's the sort of mean that makes me smile.
The Leaves on the Branches (Flutter Like the Feathers on Her Wings) -4/28/05
This is a Shakespearian sonnet. It plays around a little bit with semi-rhymes. That was
kind of fun. The title is nice, pretty long (even for me) but... nice. The imagery/premise
was something that I came up with in a small nonsense-poem in sixth grade or something. I was
bored in class one day and decided to rework it into something nice. I always enjoyed the
metaphor, and now that I was more mature, I could develop it a bit better. It is technically
a love-poem, but because it's not about any girl in particular, like the above, I'm filing it
in the Life section.
Moving On (Doesn’t Always Involve Closure) -5/20/05
I like the title to this one. It's what I started out with, this time. I also knew the basic metaphor
that I wanted to work with. I'm not sure how the final product turned out though. It almost seems a little
compressed, as if it could have stood another stanza. I'm pretty dedicated to the sonnet form though. This
one's Shakespearian, again. It deals with, as the title implies, relationships and moving on. On the whole,
I like it alright. Of course, I just wrote it. We'll see what I think of it months from now. I am placing it
in the Life section not because, as some of the other poems in this section, it is about the Girl Abstract,
but rather because it is about several Girls in Particular, and therefore belongs to more than one section.
Founders and Fathers -5/09/06
This one had been stewing in my mind for at least a month or two before I finally wrote it down. I think
the thought I put into it before writing it helped the final product to be more polished, seeing as I
hardly ever revise something once it's written down. This poem is a sort of message addressing America.
It is somewhat inspired by listening to way too much A Silver Mt. Zion. It has no real rhyme scheme,
but a very definite beat. You'd have to read it aloud to really notice that though. It uses alliteration
and contrasting images and ideas to get across the lack of integrity. As of now, I like it a lot.
Desperados -6/14/06
This ties "Iscariot" for the shortest title I've ever written. You can't get much shorter than one
word. It actually ended up being a semi-sonnet, completely unintentionally! In that, it has 14 lines
of a regular meter (whenever the meter is broken, it is intentional). It is actually written in dactylic
trimeter with an extra unstressed and stressed syllable at the beginning and end, respectively. It is about
my generation, from my point of view. Kind of one of those: here's who we are, and what we're looking for
things. So far, I kind of like it. It started out like one huge jumble of unplanned lines and ended up
pretty neatly organized with an actual meter! Things could be worse!
Upon Revisitation (An Afterward, An Elegy) -7/03/06
This is a proper Spenserian sonnet. I actually wrote down the title, the final line and basic concept on 6/22/06,
but only just got around to actually writing the whole thing. That is a bit of a peek into my "writing process",
a.k.a. "procrastination". This is a companion piece to "Upon the Occasion". Both are drawn from this kid that I
barely knew who died from cancer when he was around 14. The first poem was me thinking "Gosh, I'm only a couple
years older than this kid, what if I died?" whereas, I hope, this one is a more mature reflection on early death.
The second stanza went through about 4-5 distinct versions before I found something adequate. It still seems a little
digressional, but yeah. Maybe I'll rework it later if I feel more inspired.
Ballad of the Bad Dog Thieving -Date Unknown
This poem is a spoof on Beowulf, done for a school assignment. It is based on a real-life
incident of my dog stealing food from the kitchen at night. It is not metrical but gets nicely
rhythmic in the right places, as well as rhyming from time to time, appropriately. Perhaps not
my most pretentious work, but it still amuses me. I think that, for full effect, it ought to be
read aloud in one's most proclamatory voice. It was probably written in late 2003/early 2004.
'Straight Priorities' or 'The Humanist Environmentalist' -1/06/04
This was written for a class. The assignment was simply to write a sonnet, and I didn't feel
like writing about anything deep. So I wrote this poem, which is essentially a sonnet-essay
(in my opinion approaching best the purpose of poetry) about environmentalism, and the value of
human life. It is part of my argument that abortion is a bigger issue in politics than environmentalism.
Essentially: if it comes to kill a rain-forest tree = save a baby, then hand me an axe.
Form and Formula (Socrates' Wife) -2/24/05
This poem is written in envelope-sonnet scheme. It is a love poem with its the Platonic Form
of Woman, rather than any particular female, as its target. I like how it's all kind of
tongue-in-cheek, as I imagine Socrates reading it to his wife. I like several of the lines in it.
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All Work Copyright © 2005 by Luke Hansen