My Sister’s Choice and Other Sonnets

By Bruce Gewirz

Bruce Gewirz has studied sonnets written from the thirteenth century to the present and has written over twelve hundred sonnets and a number of other poems to his muses over the last forty-six years. He presently resides in Mount Rainier, Maryland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796038859

Bruce Gewirz

Bruce Gewirz has studied sonnets written from the 13th century to the present, and has written over twelve hundred sonnets and a number of other poems to his muses over the last 46 years. He presently resides in Mt. Rainier, Maryland.

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Copyright © 2019 by Bruce Gewirz.

Library of Congress Control Number:        2019907002

ISBN:                  Hardcover                 978-1-7960-3887-3

                           Softcover                    978-1-7960-3886-6

                           eBook                           978-1-7960-3885-9

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Rev. date: 06/25/2019

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Table of Contents

Table of First Lines for My Sister’s Choice

Introduction: The Sonnet

My Sister’s Choice

Sonnet CXXXIX At Mellon’s Fountain

Sonnet CCXXI On Poetry

Sonnet CCXXVII To Feel the Words

Sonnet CDL What is the Source

Sonnet DLIII Garden Sonnet

Sonnet DCXV To Jennifer’s Kitten

Sonnet DCL The Sonnet

Sonnet DCLV To Jaissa Dancing

Sonnet DCLXXXVIII Bhan Sidhe

Sonnet DCCLXXXVII If Blood be Price

Sonnet DCCCXLIX On 9-11

Sonnet DCCCLVI On My Continued Unemployment

Sonnet DCCCLVIII A Blessing

Sonnet CMXIX Ospreys

Sonnet CMXX On Muses

Sonnet CMXXXIII On the Opening of the NMAI

Sonnet CMXLIV A Muse Remains Forever

Sonnet MXLIV Are You Then Muse

Sonnet MLXIV In Midnight Dream

Sonnet MLXVI On Mudcat

Sonnet MLXXII To Annie

Sonnets to Star 1976- 1996

Table of First Lines for Sonnets to Star

Musings from a Distance – Sonnets to Cassandra Mare

Table of First lines for Musings from a Distance

Lines to Persephone

Table of First lines for Lines to Persephone

Sonnets To Katie Elizabeth

Table of First lines for Sonnets to Katie Elizabeth

Table of First Lines for My Sister’s Choice

First Line

A muse remains forever: Part of heart

A perfect day for planting, with no sun

Are you then muse, that I might find a rhyme

A sonnet is a frozen tear, a kiss,

Good night, sweet muse. May you dream of the dawn

I ask that I might rub your feet, to soothe

If blood be price of empire, what’s the cost

I find a five leaf clover: Is it luck,

I listen to the songs of life, as told

In midnight dream her bright smile haunts me still,

It was an odd noise that I heard, this night:

I watch you dance, and study how you move,

One’s Muses come and go, but when they give,

So, playful kitten, shall I find a ball

The water flows in even sheets, as fire,

Though I may lose my eyes, and be called blind,

Three future hunters rest, almost to sky

To absent friends and lost loves let us drink,

To feel the words curl tight around the pen

Two years have passed, the dust has cleared away,

What is the source of my desire, to care

Introduction: The Sonnet

The sonnet is a rhymed, lyrical poetic form, usually of 14 lines. In English, they are primarily in iambic pentameter (5 ‘feet’, each of one unaccented syllable followed by an accented one). A number of fixed rhyme schemes can be used, but there should not be more than seven rhymes in the entire poem. The usual structure is the Italian (an 8 line ‘octet’, followed by a 6 line ‘sestet’, often offering an idea or image in the octet, and a contrasting image or rebuttal in the sestet.) or the English (3 four line ‘quatrains’, followed by a two line ‘couplet’, presenting three images or ideas in the quatrains, and a summary or rebuttal in the couplet.

A Sonnet Redouble, or Sonnet of Sonnets, is a sonnet sequence of 15 sonnets, 14 of which are in a ‘corona’ with the last line of each sonnet being repeated as the first line of the next sonnet, and the last line of the last sonnet being the first line of the first sonnet in the corona. The 15th, or Key, sonnet is usually written first but presented last, and is composed of the first lines of each sonnet in the corona, in sequence. This results in a 210 line poem, with 14 lines repeated three times each. Sonnet DCCXXVII (page 309) through DCCXLI (page 316) comprise my first attempt at this verse form.

A successful poem, in my opinion, is one that technically meets the requirements of the chosen form, and gives the reader an understanding of the poet’s state of mind at the time the poem was written. In the case of sonnets, and other lyrical forms, the reader should hear the music in the words, within the reader’s mind, as it is read.

When the reader feels, reading the poem, what I felt when writing it, I have succeeded as a poet.

My Sister’s Choice

Sonnet 02/8/1975        At Mellon’s Fountain -- CXXXIX

The water flows in even sheets, as fire,

A dappled pool beside me, ever cool.

Its never ending, changing, liquid spire

Is more divine than ever made by tool.

In memory of one no longer here,

This font was formed out of the earth, to be

A tribute, and a thing of beauty, dear

To those of us who look upon it, free.

The sweet soft sound of water, dancing down

These tiered basins, calms my lonely soul:

This solitary comfort seems profound,

But is just nature’s way of making whole.

The waves within this fountain cleanse my heart

Of memories of which I am not part.

Sonnet 11/2/1977            On Poetry -- CCXXI

Though I may lose my eyes, and be called blind,

I still may see far more than spectral light.

I will have vision, if only in mind,

For as long as my Muse may give me sight.

What colors are emotions? What the brush

That paints one’s memories? How can one steal

A moment out of Time? Is a faint blush

A shade, or state of mind? Perception real?

These are the questions one must ask, to know

The way to meet one’s Muse. Yet, to then win

Her favor, rely on one’s heart, to show

What one might offer for Her discipline.

Although the price may sometimes seem too high,

Just think about one’s gift, and then know why.

Sonnet 06/4/1977 -- CCXXVII

To feel the words curl tight around the pen

And drag it here and there - beyond the strength

Of any hand to alter it, and then

To leave hand, going limp, to hold at length

The meaning, upon page: That is the way

That poems are born. They are not formed of ink,

Yet written words are molded, form the clay

That brings to mind the meaning. One must think

How that is done: First, one must slowly blend

The thoughts, and let them flow. Then, dreams immerse

Until they change their shape. When they pretend

To lose identity, to page then send.

To hold my thoughts within my hand, and curse

The words in front of me - Now that is verse!

Sonnet 26/3/1993 -- CDL

What is the source of my desire, to care

About you so? I do not have a claim

Upon your heart, save in dreams, yet I name

As heart’s desire your well-being. How fair

Am I, to dream, when only verses share

More than occurrence? Shall I offer heart

To bind you as my muse, or shall I chart

A path into unknown: Am I to dare?

I seek within myself, yet do not know

How much is dream, and how much you. I fear

To find out truth: Will hope let me discern

Between concern and caring? Shall I show

How little I now know you? Am I peer

To any that you love? What might I learn?

Sonnet 19/05/2001 Garden Sonnet -- DLIII

A perfect day for planting, with no sun

To burn life from small leaves; The promise of

Water to sustain new growth. Here’s one

Of Nature’s subtle gifts, to show her love.

You plant sweet herbs for future use, and weed

Unwanted growth, but know a use for all

That garden grows. Four senses gardens feed,

And birds, who nourish fifth with evening call.

The breeze brings cool contentment, as the day

Slides into night. You have the future sown.

In time, all that you plant will grow, to pay,

With interest, labor done by harvest grown.

With laughter in eyes, and smile touching cheek,

You have in your garden all I might seek.

Sonnet 18/10/2001 To Jennifer’s Kitten -- DCXV

So, playful kitten, shall I find a ball

Of yarn to help entice you closer? What

Bright bauble might attract your gaze, to call

You to my lap, that I might watch eyes shut?

Shall dancing feathers on a string be prey

To huntress in carpeted hall? Is toe

To be target? Do you with shadows play,

Or does your path through unseen jungles go?

Fierce fuzzy feline, proud puff tail held high,

What beasts do you pursue? Are monsters found

Behind the curtains, or do dragons fly

Invisible to those upon the ground?

You look at me, then march across the floor

On padded paws, and promenade out door.

Sonnet 24/01/2002 The Sonnet -- DCL

A sonnet is a frozen tear, a kiss,

Preserved in fourteen lines. It is a pearl

Of layered thought, a gem too bright to miss

When set on page: One blossom, to unfurl

To perfect flower. As amber, sealed soul

In timeless tomb, it can show time long past,

Or hold this instant in its grasp. The whole

Of heart upon one single page, to last

Beyond even our dreams, it seems a sip,

Distilled to essence. Refined within mind,

Lines sing sweet song, and rhymes in patterns slip,

To weave image that leaves mere vision blind.

A single chord, to resound in one’s heart:

Echo of past that might our future start.

Sonnet 11/02/2002 To Jaissa, Dancing -- DCLV

I watch you dance, and study how you move,

To focus music with each roll and sway.

You rouse my senses: With each note they play,

You form emotion with your motion, prove

That sight succeeds as much as touch. You draw

All thoughts, and eyes: You dance into our dream.

You need no gems upon you: Your eyes gleam

Far more than perfect stone, without a flaw.

You glow, with your excitement: With your smile

You light the room, and brighten life. You turn,

And heart follows away, and desires burn

To fever pitch: How high can passions pile?

The music stops, and you are still: You hold

Your pose, but world returns, and room grows cold.

Sonnet 07/05/2002 Bhean Sidhe -- DCLXXXVIII

It was an odd noise that I heard, this night:

Not quite a scream, but far more than a gasp,

From moonless darkness, with no stars in sight.

What is this coldness, that my insides clasp?

Why do I weaken, hearing sound so far

Only the echo reaches ear, yet mind

Is twisted from intent? How can I bar

Gates of imagination, to wyrd bind?

I fall, boneless with fright, and sweat breaks out;

Bowels turn to water with despair. I weep,

To lose all. I moan, but cannot give shout

To more than whimper, nor my reason keep.

She passes, and I live! Yet dare not rise

For fear of seeing Death within her eyes.

Sonnet 17/02/2003 -- DCCLXXXVII

If blood be price of empire, what’s the cost

To stand aside, and let tyrants hold sway?

What moral ground remains, if we have lost

The will to stand firm and No further! say?

Can we ignore this danger to our lives,

Or risk our children’s future? Is the threat

Of promised pain of no concern? Hate strives

To stop us: Will we all of past forget?

Do we hide from our duty, with the fear

That there might be a price to what is right?

We know what must be done: It may appear

That we can wait, but should we withhold might?

All evil needs to triumph is for good

To turn away and not do what it should.

Sonnet 15/09/2003 On 9-11 -- DCCCXLIX

Two years have passed, the dust has cleared away,

The wreckage all removed. Yet, are we changed

From what we were before? What can we say,

To families with lives all rearranged?

Two years have passed, but are we still afraid

To face unreasoned hate? Can we ignore

That others find our freedoms foul, and prayed

To kill our children, to our pain ensure?

Two years have passed, and ghosts are quiet, but

What have we done to give them any rest?

Has a swift sword of justice struck, to cut

Down those that hurt us, or have we failed test?

How can we rebuild all those lives cut short?

What future remains while such evils sport?

On My Continued Unemployment

Sonnet 18/10/2003 -- DCCCLVI

I find a five leaf clover: Is it luck,

Or just too much attention to the lawn?

No matter: I will seize the chance and pluck

This token, before even that is gone.

That which does not kill still causes pain,

And I am tired of being strong. I give

Far more than I receive. Am I insane

To try to find some reason I should live?

I have no worth, to world: I earn no wage

For all of my endeavors. Shall I seek

To place part of despair upon this page?

Yet, does it help to of life’s failures speak?

All I can do is try, and try again:

What I cannot control should not heart stain.

Sonnet 05/11/2003 A Blessing -- DCCCLVIII

Good night, sweet muse. May you dream of the dawn

When love and light and laughter greet your smile.

May stars gather above, as heart is drawn

To seek for love, and of these dreams make trial.

Rest well, and long: Awake to a new day

Where all is as should be, and you enjoy

The love that you deserve. Heart shows the way

To bright tomorrow: Let sleep fears destroy.

May the Lord bless and keep you; May He make

His countenance to shine on you, and be

Gracious unto you; And may the Lord give

Heart peace: If not for love, then for the sake

Of one that for your happiness gives plea.

You are the light that lets my passions live.

Sonnet 17/06/2004 Ospreys -- CMXIX

Three future hunters rest, almost to sky

At top of pine, and wait for food. They grow,

With busy parents’ care, and soon will fly

To winter in a far off land. They show

The cycle of all life: To win their lives

From other’s death. In truth, they risk as much,

With such uncertain fate. For now, each thrives,

But balance might at any time life touch.

Can any of us future know, to tell

Our time of ending? Each of us might fall

At any moment: Does wishing all well

Make difference in what occurs at all?

Life’s thread is spun, woven, and cut: The hell

We find in soul is what each one might call.

Sonnet 30/06/2004 On Muses -- CMXX

One’s Muses come and go, but when they give,

All one can do is hold the words, and pray

That they will