Sonnet of a Woodcock

When mercy freed me from your switchblade smile,

At last I wept the loss that coursed like blood

Unstaunched, to pale all grasp of truth and guile;

The world so bright, I daubed my eyes with mud.

Now blind, I walk my night through day and light

And curse the birds who sing to warm my face

With calumny so like your serpent bite,

A poison springe to stay my flight of grace.

Shame leads my way, disgrace the only map

To guide the step of fortune’s feckless fool

Up steep ravine above the ocean clap.

She roars my name and calls, “My prize, my jewel!”

I reach for sky and tempt my soul to fly

To rocks that wait to love me by and by.

Reviews

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

it's a very sad work, but one that is beautifully written. all poetry celebrates life by its very existence. and even this one which teters towards death is life-affirming. phrases 'switchblade smile,' 'A poison springe to stay my flight of grace,' 'To rocks that wait to love me by and by,' don't exactly talk about nice things, but there is in its expression something very enlivening. a work of contradictions, very intriguing, triste, but magnificently written.

[Joli Dy]

How very beautiful to have connected with you here. We say so often to people we don't know, "thank you for reading."
With all that I am today, thank you for reading, Ern.

[lk]

feed my eyes
can you sew them shut?

[Joli Dy]

You have always seen more with closed eyes than most people could ever hope to see, including me. I've lived vicariously through those eyes more than once. They are now my cherished memories.

[Paul in the Buff]

"I reach for sky and tempt my soul to fly

To rocks that wait to love me by and by."

The story of my life.

Good to have you back. :)

[Joli Dy]

Thank you. A piece of me, at least. :)

[redzone]

"To rocks that wait to love me by and by"... love is often the tempter of our fate. But, should we feel shame and disgrace for wanting, and needing love? On the other hand, we should only seek love that is real, based on mutual respect and the mutual acceptance of our diversity. -Curt

[Joli Dy]

I suppose that "seeking" such love is not where the problem unusually lays. Neither is shame not disgrace connected to the wanting of such love; it is in the marks we bear when... Ah, so many ways to finish that thought.
Thank you for reading and sharing with me. That's a treasure.

[Joli Dy]

nor. Why oh why is there no edit button here? I lament.