Creative Writing: Sonnet Update

Trying to write a poem for my collaborative poetry project, and for fun this month I decided to try out difference styles.  This week I landed on Shakespearean sonnet and wow is it difficult.

Currently, Google has given me the following tips:

The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

In the first quatrain the exposition of the main theme/metaphor is introduced.  In the second quatrain the theme/metaphor is extended/complicated with an imaginative example.  In the third quatrain the twist/conflict is introduced (the 9th line usually starts with "but").  And in the final couplet the poem summarizes with a new concluding image.

It is written in iambic pentameter, in which each line is 10 syllables; five pairs of "iambs", in which each iamb has a stressed/unstressed syllable pairing.

So far I've been trying to write the general theme and imagery before working it into an actual sonnet form, but figuring out syllables is super difficult for me.  I even have an online syllable counter to help me figure out the syllables and an online rhyming dictionary for easy inspiration.

The submission is due at the end of every week, so I have some time, but I have a feeling I'll be needing every day for it if it keeps proving to be as difficult as it has today.

Each month also has a theme, and I chose the one for this month, so I have a frame work for what I want to talk about.  However, I don't want to reveal it here, as I know we will want to publish the entire series in full at the end of the summer.

Creative Writing: Poem 15 // 16

Home is a long way from here
Located within the depths of my memories
Populated with long gone characters
Stuck in eternal autumn

The future is always bright
And the past is always present
At the home in my mind

//

When I left home I did not know
It was a one-way ticket to go
Far far away from there
So I boarded without care
The ship that sailed ever onward
Toward a future where I wander
Aimlessly without end
Until - perhaps - one day when I shall send
My regards to the ever fading past
And find my rest at last.

Creative Writing: Poem 14

Forty-three point nine eight two six

That's where my heart ticks

One two four zero nine nine eight

That's where my thoughts like rain percolate

Creative Writing: Poem 13

We like to cast our friends as vile villains
Ready to play the part of devilish politician
A Brutus always waiting in the wings
About to stab our backs without feeling a thing
Always ready to exclaim with conviction
"Judas! It is you who has secured my crucifixion!"

But most acts of treachery are accidental
Happenstances - careless and incremental
I rarely find an act of treason
Executed with carefully calculated reason
A kiss on the cheek meant in affection
Rather than manipulated deception

Creative Writing: Haiku 46

Remorse is the clear
Recourse to refill our soul's
Depleted resource

Creative Writing: Poem 12

I am merely a
Humble tradesman
My business, you ask?
To package emotion
To trade ideas
To sell you morality,
Philosophy -
To buy your stories
And sell your souls
To devour on faceless screens.

Creative Writing: Poem 11

there was a time he thought
the future was going to be bright
beaches, babes, and buried treasure
days filled with adventure
nights filled with sleeping under the stars
no more small towns
no more small dreams
just him and his brother
versus the world

but one mistake
and that all changed

there was a time he thought
the future was bleak
if he even had one
days filled with pain
nights filled with paranoia
no more needing any one
no more needing any thing
just the world and his brother
versus him

but one summer
and that all changed

now he thought
no more wondering about the future
with his past all but forgotten
but the present was just fine with him
on the deck of the boat
he used to only see in his dreams
just him and his brother
versus the world

once again




prompt: write a poem about growing old, but don’t state it directly.

(obviously this is my take on Stan's life and getting older)

Creative Writing: Poem 10

I feel like I have to hoard up
every word you grant me
Like a miser counting up every coin
storing away your thoughts
Deep into the recesses of my heart.
Because I am a beggar
pleading to hear your voice
Just one more time.
Who knows when I will receive
such a gift again
I pray, could you just spare a single penny?
But you always avoid my beseeching eyes
While conversing with another -
too busy hurrying to work -
Feigning ignorance to my plight.
And on the rare cloudy day,
when you decide to be with me again,
I sadly watch the clock
Knowing time spent with you is never enough.
But you always leave just the same.

Creative Writing: Poem 9

in the warm darkness of night
pine trees would sway in the wind
as if caught in a ballet
shielding my little cottage
from the torrential downpour
the bursts of light
part of the magic they wove
protecting me
from the roaring battle in the distance
while sentinel stars twinkled above the
ocean of grey clouds below and overhead
there was a crackle of wonder in the
crisp Oregon air


prompt: Write a poem about a thunderstorm. DON’T use any of these words: umbrella, thunder, rain, storm

Creative Writing: Poem 8

My spirit is fenced in
I am trapped by endless land
Stretching as far as the eye can see
The breath of life is far away
My soul yearns for it.

The sky is blinding white
Causing blisters to my beating heart
A cruel mockery
Of the cool blue heavens
Over the waves.

The Spirit of God resides there
Within the waters of the sea
In every roar of every wave
In every salty sea breeze
In every drop of rain.

He would never leave me
But my soul thirsts for Him
In this endless desert
So very alone in every crowd
I do not feel His presence.

prompt: nature imagery / spiritual metaphors

Creative Writing: Tanka 13

I feel the ocean
Calling my spirit toward
Endless horizon
Where sea and sky embrace, met
At last in Eternity

Creative Writing: Haiku 45

When you are hungry
But your stomach feels too small
And your tongue is tied

Creative Writing: Haiku 44

Forty-four haikus
Later, and I still have not
Written about you

Creative Writing: Haiku 43

Sailing on the sea
White waves sneaking on deck as
They break over board

Creative Writing: Haiku 42

Life is good but I
Am ready for a long nap
And maybe a drink

Creative Writing: Haiku 41

I am very tired
But I must persist through it
I just want to sleep

Creative Writing: Haiku 40

I'm stuck in a mire
Of emotions over you.
I want to escape.

Creative Writing: Poem 7

It hurt to hear you say
"I can't give you
what you want
from me"
When all I ever asked
was for you to Stay.

Creative Writing: Poem 6

did I lose the chance to kiss you?

he asks me with a sigh

my silence was enough reply

perhaps he did

i do not know

if he lost my heart long ago

i can not imagine a life without you

he tells me between the lines

of what he says after we drink wine

but why can't he tell me that

sober, with candid honesty

i have worn down my sanity

with waiting for the day

he would say we could be together

but now, apart at last, will surely be for the better

prompt: Stranger Conversations: Start the first line of your poem with a word or phrase from a recent passing conversation between you and someone you don’t know.

Creative Writing: Haiku 39

Missing you is like
Drowning in the sea without
A Life preserver