POEMS

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Poem links                                             Journal links

3 Degrees                                               Visitant

Elevators                                                Steam Ticket (p 136)

Grace                                                       A Thin Slice of Anxiety

I Was Here                                            Soundings East

Leap                                                          A Thin Slice of Anxiety

Messengers                                           Brushfire Literature & Arts (p 18)

Mocha Wars                                         The Nonconformist Magazine

Santa                                                        Better Than Starbucks (featured poem 4)

The Other Boy                                    A Thin Slice of Anxiety         

What Darkness Taught Me         A Thin Slice of Anxiety

This is a Shakespearean sonnet, a traditional form for romantic poetry with 3 quatrains and a couplet in iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme ababcdcdefefgg. The challenge was to conform to these restrictions but make it feel fresh and natural while retaining the musicality of a sonnet. To that end, I combined strict iambic pentameter with some extreme enjambment and used a mix of slant and perfect rhymes. I also bookended the story with a fantastical metaphor to set the tone and provide perspective. The poem began in a Writer's Studio class and drew inspiration from Julie Kane's wonderful poem As If.