Wednesday, April 19, 2023

REGRESSIVE SONNET

 


Your old catastrophes queued to recur,
And vital fire contracted to a hole,
Could you go back in dreams to what you were
And try anew the unenacted role?

Dead pleasures fading to a wasted blur,
Desire perversely lives, a glowing coal
That stale regret but pricks you on to stir,
Revision of the past your only goal.

So little left could hardly come to less:
A clinging succubus took you as prey,
And, still possessing you, makes you regress;

The sleepless demon that forced you to say
“Yes” when you meant “No,” “No” when you meant “Yes,”
Still makes a day of night, a night of day.




Note: In lines 1, 2, and 5, the verbs are not all in the past tense; the construction at the beginning of each sentence is an adverbial/participial phrase as in “Given the circumstances, …” and “Their schoolwork done, …” and “All things being equal, …” 
 
 
Photo from http://quotationsbook.com/quotes/author/photos/6633




1 comment: