The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch
Auschwitz Rose
by Michael R. Burch
There is a Rose at Auschwitz, in the briar,
a rose like Sharon's, lovely as her name.
The world forgot her, and is not the same.
I still love her and enlist this sacred fire
......
The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch
Auschwitz Rose
by Michael R. Burch
There is a Rose at Auschwitz, in the briar,
a rose like Sharon's, lovely as her name.
The world forgot her, and is not the same.
I still love her and enlist this sacred fire
......
I call these poems "heretical sonnets" because they don't follow the orthodox rules. I like the length of the sonnet for many poems, but I ignore all picky rules and have sonnets from 6 to 18 lines. I also have non-IP and free-verse-ish sonnets. I prefer the original definition of sonnet as a "little song" of indeterminate length and form. For example...
In this Ordinary Swoon
by Michael R. Burch
In this ordinary swoon
as I pass from life to death,
I feel no heat from the cold, pale moon;
I feel no sympathy for breath.
......
I would love to write the perfect sonnet,
each line having exactly five stressed beats,
so when pretentious old critics read it,
they'd admire me for performing such feats.
The rhyme pattern, of course, would be perfect,
my voice and tone would be engaging, too,
and those who read it would have to admit,
it was far better than they'd ever do.
But in the end I'd rather write something
if not quite perfect, still perfectly true,
......
The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch (II)
The Strangest Rain
by Michael R. Burch
“I ... am small, like the Wren, and my Hair is bold, like the Chestnut Bur—and my eyes, like the Sherry in the Glass, that the Guest leaves ...”—Emily Dickinson
If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.—Emily Dickinson
......
These are sonnets by Michael R. Burch. Many of these sonnets are "heretical" sonnets in that they disobey the rules of orthodox sonnets and return to the original definition of "sonnet" as a "little song." Included are Shakespearean sonnets, Petrarchan sonnets, Spenserian sonnets, blank verse sonnets, free verse sonnets and experimental sonnets.
Lozenge
by Michael R. Burch
When I was closest to love, it did not seem
real at all, but a thing of such tenuous sweetness
it might dissolve in my mouth
like a lozenge of sugar.
......
I call these poems "heretical sonnets" because they don't follow the orthodox rules. I like the length of the sonnet for many poems, but I ignore all picky rules and have sonnets from 6 to 18 lines. I also have non-IP and free-verse-ish sonnets. I prefer the original definition of sonnet as a "little song" of indeterminate length and form. For example...
In this Ordinary Swoon
by Michael R. Burch
In this ordinary swoon
as I pass from life to death,
I feel no heat from the cold, pale moon;
I feel no sympathy for breath.
......
The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch (II)
The Strangest Rain
by Michael R. Burch
“I ... am small, like the Wren, and my Hair is bold, like the Chestnut Bur—and my eyes, like the Sherry in the Glass, that the Guest leaves ...”—Emily Dickinson
If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.—Emily Dickinson
......
The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch
Auschwitz Rose
by Michael R. Burch
There is a Rose at Auschwitz, in the briar,
a rose like Sharon's, lovely as her name.
The world forgot her, and is not the same.
I still love her and enlist this sacred fire
......
The Best Sonnets by Michael R. Burch
Auschwitz Rose
by Michael R. Burch
There is a Rose at Auschwitz, in the briar,
a rose like Sharon's, lovely as her name.
The world forgot her, and is not the same.
I still love her and enlist this sacred fire
......