Two Sonnets

(Sunset over Lake Mendota)

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To get myself back into blogging, I've decided to let you know that I sometimes write sonnets! Here are two of them - one new, one old. Enjoy? I hope you will.

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Into the World

We did not meet while I was in the maze,
Believing that I wasn’t lost at all,
Yet winding ever deeper through my days,
To inward darkness, ever more in thrall.

We could not meet while I, with covered eyes
Kept to my house, to pathways known and clear,
And blinded to the world’s exquisite size,
Knew only of the small and of the near.

We would not meet till I was forced to wake
Into a time so startling and so bright
That first it burned, and then for healing’s sake
I went outside to learn to love the light.

Now through the glowing world I travel, keen
To see each face and vista, and be seen.

- August 4, 2019

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My Tribe

I walk through normal life, an oddity,
My colors bright, my mind never at rest,
And never meet the likes of one like me,
Beset by words, by haunting image blessed.

I sleep through dreams of spaces where alone
I search for signals sent from my own kind,
Or listen for the light enchanting tone
Of longed-for voices merrily combined.

But when I gladly meet my tribe anew,
And read from flashing eyes acceptance dear,
I join the ones I love, the charming few,
To laugh, to understand, to gather near.

Our colors blend in vibrant harmony;
Combine in patterns no one else can see.

- November, 2007

The Double Friday Report for Januarys 29th and 22nd, 2016, Because I Missed Last Week

Double the Instagrams, double the fun!

(Click the link to see so many more, you will be BOGGLED)

Good day to you! Last Friday my eldest son gave a presentation at school, so I went to that instead of blogging. I thought I'd just blog on Monday. GUESS HOW THAT WORKED OUT.

Last week, I did some good work on the story I'm writing. I had the realization that, for once, I had started it at a point too far into the story, and it could use a new beginning that would show the inciting incident. Usually it's far too easy to start a story too early in the character's timeline, which can slow down the pace by including unnecessary information. I felt good about figuring that out, but I still didn't know the ending.

I'm about to do something that's a bit uncomfortable for me, but I've been inspired by Austin Kleon's awesome book, Show Your Work!, so this is his fault. I decided to figure out the ending of my story by writing a sonnet, because I love writing them--they're like making up your own puzzle and solving it as you go along--and I thought it would trick my subconscious mind into revealing a solution for me, which it did. The uncomfortable part is that I don't tend to post this sort of stuff, because it's not finished, it's more like poetic notes, but I'm going to take Kleon's advice and post that sonnet. 

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A young child weeping helpless on the ground,

And half-hid under bushes, turned away,

Reveals a secret, once she has been found,

Her eyes a mix of power and decay.

A kindness met with slash of sudden claw--

A fever builds, unconsciousness, abyss--

Awake anew and see with horrid awe

The world beneath the surface is amiss.

So enter, now, the traveling milieu

Where poison--posed as healing--fakers give,

Then thread the maze, a pathway shown to few,

And heal the sickness, only then to live.

The wound received has turned into a gift,

The wicked ones returned back through the rift.

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This is not a sonnet that tells a story clearly by itself, but it's like a message from my subconscious mind to me. A few of the lines came out as complete surprises that showed me exactly what to do in the story, and now I know my ending. I still have to write it all out, but I do much better with that part once I have an outline, no matter what form the outline takes.

My projects:

Writing: I've written over 3,000 words on the story, and I would like to finish a rough draft of about 6,000 words total by the end of next week. 

Reading: 

• Ruby and the Stone Age Diet, by Martin Millar
• Craft, Inc., by Meg Mateo Ilasco
• Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, by Bill Nye

January's Other Project: My new office. I've moved furniture around and hung an organizer thingy on the wall--it's a chalkboard on one half, and has wire mesh to clip things on with mini clothespins on the other half. I have yet to assemble my new desk, office chair, and small set of shelves, but there's not much procrastination between me and those tasks!