Monday 11 July 2016

Everything




I will write you everything in just one line
and you can call it any name you choose
syllables and line counts cannot define
what is or isn’t a sonnet, or the truth.
As honestly as I can, I will write
what I feel in the simplest language, use
no embellishments, nothing to turn and writhe

at the ends of octaves and quickly form
the premise and endless counter argument.
No snake gobbling its tail, not a huge word-storm
in a small teacup. One line, then fall silent.
And it’ll still be a sonnet, though the norm
of iambs and fourteen shall be absent. 









22 comments:

  1. I love it! Including the deliberate thirteen.

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    1. Thirteen's sometimes lucky! Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

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    1. And you don't even have to call it a rose to enjoy the fragrance right? :)

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  3. Thirteen is lucky, for me, but was that your inspiration? I just sometimes wonder the thoughts before the pen hits paper. :) Nosy me!

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    1. I remember that thread!!! To be honest, I can never tell exactly what the thoughts are playing at before pen hits paper. Everything gets layered in there somewhere and you never know what surfaces when :)

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  4. You have a talent I so admire and envy.

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    1. Nothing much to envy :) just putting words together and trying to make sense..

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  5. Clever writing. Thank you for this

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  6. I was hooked at "I will write you everything in just one line," and I got even more hooked as I read on. Names don't matter. I have one of Abraham Lincoln's riddles for you. Question: How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Answer: Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.

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  7. Ha, Nila, I've been looking at Shakespearean sonnets with my students and I couldn't help counting your lines. Yes, let's say what we need to and not be constrained by structure. Beautiful, as always.

    Oh, and I have nominated you for an award on my blog. I hope you'll accept!!

    http://dencovey.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/the-liebster-award-wherein-i-answer-11_13.html

    Denise:-)

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    1. Thanks, Denise! So honoured to have been nominated by you and Yolanda!

      My current compulsion is to maul the sonnet :) bash and smash. Dunno if Shakespeare would approve. Probably not. But what to do? :)

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