Friday, May 4, 2012

Household Sphinx

The robin sings outside our window at five
and chatters its gleeful, joyful dewdrop jive.
In morning light the plane trees turn green,
and maple and white azaleas preen
for sleepy commuters with dream-cleansed eyes
as the vixen finds its den where the cub cries.

I saw an island rendezvous at night
with a sad woman burdened by the weight
of hope, but broken promises without end
made sea surf and spume her only friend.

The ground hog waddles across the wet lawn
and rabbits hop to graze on daisies, drawn
by invisible threads to the hunkered cat,
our household Sphinx exacting blood and fate.

(c) copyright 2012 Charles David Miller. All rights reserved.

13 comments:

  1. Twisty, Charles--and very much in tune with the nature element of the original form, in tandem with the change ups on the rhymes to keep it feeling very modern. It carries your own stamp as well, of introspection and appreciation of the small and significant. I like the ending--its perspective--especially.

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  2. sleepy commuters with dream-cleansed eyes...somehow sounds very familiar to me...smiles..i like this much charles, like how you mix different things...the mundane, real and the very abstract into the box and somehow make them all connect and fit together..

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  3. This is my fave:
    "and rabbits hop to graze on daisies, drawn
    by invisible threads to the hunkered cat,"

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  4. I like the capture of the morning, the details and colours like sea surf and spume...and my fav is the last stanza, the last line :

    our household Sphinx exacting blood and fate.

    Awesome work ~

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  5. Certainly imbues the Clarian sonnet form with the classicism that one expects, and with a domestic and naturalistic tinge that's perfectly in keeping with the origins of the form. Well done!

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  6. really interesting how you move through the imagery in this charles...the middle stanza while rather surreal, is all very real and is interesting in light of your closing as well...nicely done sir...

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  7. Beautiful words painting a wonderful scene.

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  8. Every household should have a sphinx cat.I like the second stanza of your island mystery sad woman who haunts you in dreams. A touch of Mrs Danveres here:)

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  9. Enjoyed this very much. The rhythms and rhymes fit naturally, nothing seems contrived.

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  10. A very satisfying poem for this reader; so much detail and story in the apparent simplicity.

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  11. I could see the whole scene. Most in love with that last stanza. :)

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  12. This I like very much, so enjoyed reading. Thank you.

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