We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

27.4.24

Letting Go of Julian


What is the nature of reality?

As my friend drives us to another town

for ‘TheTrust Fall’ movie that we missed here,

the pollen-heavy miles inflame my eyes.

In a strange, surreal state, I watch the screen

with a hand covering each eye in turn 

(to cut glare, soothe pain) as we all observe 

a far less transient torture, long-term,

likely to be fatal. It’s clear the man 

is not villain but hero. How can we 

save him? It needs all of us to keep on!

Home, I manage to smash a favourite

glass. Upset, I forget Assange – once more

blanking out that we live in the unreal.



[See revised version, posted 3 Juky '24.]



The NaPoWriMo prompt was to write an American sonnet, i.e. more loosely structured than the strict sonnet form. (But I chose to keep 10-syllable lines, though not in iambic pentameter.) 


The Poem A Day prompt was to remix one of our old poems, so I turned Day 3's surreal prose-poem into a sonnet.





2 comments:

  1. I like this, Rosemary. Getting out of the unreal takes courage.
    Mine too has meter, tetrameter. "I" still call it an American sonnet as it lacks rhyme. Most of mine don't anymore.
    ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like it, Jim, and also glad you understand it. My earlier version received responses focusing more on my sore eyes (which bizarre happening was quite true) and expressing happiness that things had ended well. But of course things have not yet ended well for Julian Assange, my real subject.

      Delete

DON'T PANIC IF YOUR COMMENTS DON'T POST IMMEDIATELY. They are awaiting moderation. Please allow for possible time difference; I am in Australia. ALSO, IF YOU ARE FORCED TO COMMENT ANONYMOUSLY – do add your name at the end, so I know it's you!