Sonnets After Midnight

With all of these poets hooked on form,

one’s apt to believe it’s like opiates or porn.

And though this path is now rarely worn,

I will torture syntax to start a swarm.

At first, I stumble over every line,

trying to juggle couplets that rhyme.

I start, but I stumble a dozen times

to twist a phrase, to make it mine.

Of meager skills I have no trust.

This formal structure has me beat.

But wait!  I have hobbled to my feet.

I have finally found some metered lust

and learned that writing sonnets after midnight

entails staying awake and artificial light.

-

"Sonnets After Midnight" won 1st place in the Ohio Poetry Day 2019 poetry contest #5, The Sonnet Award, and was published in the contest compilation chapbook, Ohio Poetry Day: Best of 2019.

Eric