Don't look now, but I think I wrote a sonnet.

I've always wanted to write a sonnet.  When people think of sonnets, they often think of the most famous sonnet writer of all time, Mr. William Shakespeare.  But many modern poets used the sonnet as well.

The sonnet is a 14 line poem, written in iambic pentameter.  It's rhyming scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg.  Sounds easy enough, right?  NOT!

My favorite sonnet writer is Edna St. Vincent Millay.  Millay's poetry became famous in the 1920s, and she, like many women in her era, were not shy about the fact they had a multitude of lovers.  After all, it was the era of flappers, and bathtub gin, and the charleston.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Those of us that grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, during the post-sexual revolution of the 1960s can relate to this on varying levels. (I personally admit to nothing!) But I do admit my all-time favorite sonnet is Millay's Sonnet XLIII, that goes like this:

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, 
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain 
Under my head till morning; but the rain 
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh 
Upon the glass and listen for reply, 
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain 
For unremembered lads that not again 
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. 
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree, 
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, 
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before: 
I cannot say what loves have come and gone, 
I only know that summer sang in me 
A little while, that in me sings no more.

Now, here's my attempt:

Sonnet I
To those I've loved

To those I've loved in days gone by
That linger in sequestered places
In a restless heart, that wonders why
And thinks on smiles of fading faces.
Their laughter rings through bygone days
In moments I remember
When love was young and passion blazed
Then burst to deadened embers.
When days are long, and I'm alone
and youth seems far away
I think of when those love lights shone
Full of sweet words to say.
         I dwell on all those moments sweet,
         And hope again with love I'll meet.

Okay, well, maybe Edna was better.  But it was my first try!!!