The falling snowflakes are fierce this morning,
Deceivingly soft, they sting like bitter
Grapefruit on chapped lips, sharp as your absence
The room shrinks to tiny, moved by mourning
Even the wind relents as trees shiver
Like lost verses, cut from the roots, condense
Air wraps the window, milky sheen turning
Frosted glass, I trace your name in silver
Then light up the candles with sweet incense
The pages in my hands turn to saplings
Your words echo, a deep tunneled river
Reminding me to wait, with calm patience
I whisper - come soon- like spring , quivering
A thirsty bee, and I'll be a rose, unfurling
Posted for: D'verse Poets Pub - Sonnet written in four tercets and a couplet. Rhyme scheme abc abc abc abc aa (or bb or cc). I welcome constructive inputs on my writing. Thanks for the visit.
nice..i'm waiting for spring as well...can feel the yearning in your verse.. for spring, sun, the loved one...and i much like the pages turning to saplings...
ReplyDeleteThank you Claudia ~ Can't wait for spring to come here ~
Deletenice...love the couplet at the end...the come soon, like spring....also the writing of the name earlier one...well done as i could notice the form if i looked but if i wasnt it still flowed smooth.....
ReplyDeleteA challenge to keep the rhyming pattern of the form ~ Thanks for the lovely words and support Brian ~
DeleteTo me this is the absolute perfect ode to the start of Spring. I love Spring so much because it always acts as a buffer to Summer and you can see things slowly changing. This poem helps me feel those exact vibes perfectly and I absolutely adore it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Matthew ~
Deletegorgeous imagery filled with longing and the certainty of a knowing hope. your rhymes work seamlessly. wonderful poetry, Grace.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely compliments Jane ~
Deleteunfurling roses .... how sweet they smell
ReplyDeleteThey do indeed ~ Thanks Dezzy ~
DeleteI am anxious for the start of Spring, it can't get here soon enough in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't have any of this:
"Reminding me to wait, with calm patience"
As always, thank you!
Enjoy your weekend!!
Me too Elsie ~ Thanks for the visit ~
DeleteNicely done - not easy to keep the rhythm and rhyme up and you've done a stellar job...very lovely
ReplyDeletehttp://leapinelephants.blogspot.ca/2013/02/beneath-mirrored-surface.html
Thank you ~
DeleteGrace, what a glorious sonnet - loved loved loved the pages turning to saplings - what a thought - lovely - yes, we are all longing for spring! K
ReplyDeleteThanks K ~ Spring is on our minds these days ~
DeleteSpring becomes the lover, both absent, both eagerly awaited. Smooth. Love the imagery, Grace.
ReplyDeleteThank you Eusebia ~
DeleteThe title alone "Spring Sonnet" leaves me feeling optimistic! Smiles. I really liked the image "the pages in my hand turn to saplings," which strikes me as an original way of saying spring IS indeed on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary ~ I like to think so, though we are very much snowed under ~
DeleteI like this. The final line is especially strong but fragile.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gretchen ~
DeleteWish spring would spring already but this snow comes steady, more crap here tonight which is jut a fright. But you sure give off hope, so I won't reach for the rope lol hey it rhymed.
ReplyDeleteMore snow on the way, yikes Pat ~
DeleteThat yearning waiting can be felt so strongly and beautifully in your words, Grace. I love the last lines of you being the unfurling rose...to his thirsty bee.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gayle ~
DeleteI love your sonnet, especially the last lines that confirm the waiting for a lover's return and the quiet anticipation,,just as we are now waiting for spring :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellecee ~
DeleteBeautiful Trireme Sonnet here... As someone said, it's very difficult to conceive of a sonnet without touching on the theme of love; and in this poem, I can feel the pulse of a yearning beyond the metaphor of spring, the awakening of desire from dreaming. Spring, yes, but with that unfurling rose and the quivering bee, there is no stronger, provocative imagery. Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteThe first stanza just blew me away .. Stinging grapefruit .. And absence.. And then with spring all will be well. I can relate to that very much
ReplyDeleteyes, the grapefruit stinging the chapped lips got me right away...and a lovely buildup of mixed anticipation and some doubt..and ends on a happy not ;)
ReplyDeleteI meant happy note..
ReplyDeleteEspecially liked the comparison of snow to bitter grapefruit. Wonderful sensory description there :-)
ReplyDeleteLike the way you convey the drawing in when weather dictates. BTW, the credit below the image you feature doesn't seem to go back to the artist: her name is Ann Baldock and if you want to credit her for this wonderful image, you can find here at
ReplyDeletehttp://photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=7000406
Superb opening, well sustained throughout. A fine poem.
ReplyDeleteWell Grace, once more you deliver a lesson in delivering sensual, sensitive romantic poetry. This is just gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSounds like waiting for a lover who was away for some reasons and expecting him soon !
ReplyDelete...a gentle & sensitive way to end a sonnet Grace... though i have expected a perfect pentameter here but your last line in your couplet counted 12... just noticed it... all in all i enjoyed it... thanks... smiles...
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing:
ReplyDelete"Deceivingly soft, they sting like bitter
Grapefruit on chapped lips, sharp as your absence"
And this:
"The pages in my hands turn to saplings"
I really like what you did with the varied indentations of alternating stanzas. Very visually appealing.
I loved the pages in my hand, and the river. Such beautiful imagery in this poem.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I read your invitation for constructive criticism and went back and read your poem again. I wish I could offer something constructive, but it's hard when the poem is so well written. I can't speak to the form but I know that your words are so well chosen, they create the mood of missing someone. Also, the spelling of the words that give it a different meaning like morning/mourning-that's very creative. My 'critique' is not flattery. It's sincere. I really enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful spring sonnet!
ReplyDelete