Sunday, October 06, 2013

V. 2, #191: October 6, 2013

Today I nearly called this whole thing off.
"I've had enough," I thought, "of squeezing stones
for blood, and getting ink instead. With knowns
and unknowns dancing in my brain, that scoff

at my attempts to lock them up with rhyme,
an alchemist who only gleaned fool's gold
from pencil lead--who now, exhausted, old--
has learned the bound and circuit of his time."

But then another voice, boist'rous but small,
spoke up: "Come on, old man, you're halfway there!
Don't puff your cheeks and act like you don't care
if this remains unfinished after all.

"It's true, another year won't make you rich;
but still--you will complete this son of a bitch!"

2 comments:

Scott said...

It's true--tonight I was really wrestling with whether to keep on writing this project, or just let it lapse and forget about it. Most of the day I was coming down heavily on the "just quit" side. But then something made me spit this sub-standard sonnet out, and I guess I'm still in.

For now, anyway.

David Watson said...

I'm glad you didn't quit. It's a joy checking every day for your next sonnet. It helps me be diligent about writing my own, like I'm not the only one out there. Keep it up! This is really an awesome project.