Our Top Sonnets of December

Sleep Deprivation

Upon this spot where I do need repose 

With heavy lids the eyes like leaden weights 

Haunted by the sonnet you must impose 

In twilight’s grasp fatigue perpetuates

A wretched soul, entangled in dismay 

I must still do my AP Lang first draft

As I plummet into my mind’s affray 

Insanity will intrude upon my craft 

The parchment filled with scribbles, lines, and prose   

Some endless coffee would surely cure me 

And I think of how my weariness grows

In the dead of the night, oh to be free 

O sweet repose, withheld by cruel fate 

Your absence leaves the soul in dire strait.

Credit: Tsvetina for Adobe Stock

A Couple of Autumn Nights

The moon spoke to me in a fleeting dream,

Her light flooded the room through a window,

Deep blue, azure like the rush of a stream,

Balmy and windless fields of indigo

For many nights, lucid dreams in parallel,

Of forlorn chances with strangers I knew,

But, not a lone face stayed upon to dwell,

When the morning revealed its coral hue

My reveries ceased as I searched one night

Violet dusk, velvet trees ebbed restlessly,

A shadow, tender in the pale moonlight

Waxed dawn rose: the hum of a sleeping bee

Sunrise enveloped in billowing mist,

Against its honey glow, the lips I kissed.

Basilisk

Beware! Around the king burnt shrubs and grass

Here lies the king in rest, only one foot.

Oh yes! He may be small but none shall pass

With just one eye, he turns his foes to soot.

Βαλισευς* becomes βασιλισκος**

The king becomes so small: but one should fret

For his gaze could kill even buffalos 

Basilisk is not a snake to be pet

To drop a weasel into his burrow

The odor permeating his nostrils

The only way to kill this major foe

For just the smell turns this snake to fossils 

Great Basilisk, to travelers beware!

This mighty king will leave you in despair.

*valisefs — King

**vasiliskos — Kinglet; Little king

The Dress and the Bar

I gently roll up my red lipstick tube

As my mind wonders what the night might be

My water rings as the sound of ice cubes

Clink together to aid a thirsty me

My anxiety is as clear as day

My joy is masked by somber, murky night

Sadly, I must hear what she has to say

So her words might lead me toward the light

I wear the dress she made me long ago

Adorned with gold sequins shining like stars

A person I feel that I do not know

Will prance through the doors of this little bar

Red stains on my glass on the wood surface

Without her, I must search for my purpose.

Room

Olden shelves heavily coated in dust

Empty picture frames once lovingly filled

A broken wooden chair left to adjust 

Dried paint on carpet so carelessly spilled

Clothing ever so neatly packed away

Shutters closed never to let in the light 

I turn the light on in the waning day

Long shadows raise my ever growing fear

Open the closet door, uncover truth

Childish claims of unseen evil creatures 

What will become of the home of my youth?

I gaze at my room’s familiar features 

Reminiscent of my young simpler days

Close the door with one final longing gaze

Threaded

In pixels and waves, our friendship blooms bright,

Across the globe, a bond that spans the night.

Through cyberspace, our hearts entwine,

A friendship pure, a connection divine.

Distance may linger, but it can’t sever,

Virtual threads hold us close forever.

Words dance through cables, a digital art,

Uniting souls, though worlds apart.

Time zones may shift, daylight may wane,

Yet, in our friendship, there’s no refrain.

A global embrace, sincere and true,

Our connection thrives, like morning dew.

So here’s to the friendship, strong and wide,

Bridging the gaps, with joy as our guide.