"An olden sonnet" | 1 [sonnet series]

I met an olden sonnet at the bar
(he drank that night his bourbon on the rocks)
"I was" he said "though long ago   a star"
(he seemed a bit resigned to fortune's shocks)

"O what affairs!   O what delights & pleasures
went pouring through my voice in liquid lines!
how stately were my cadences & measures!
how curious & rich my mystic signs!

The envelope   that carried my devices
each lover kissed! the one who sent   & she
receiving it (receiving me)   no vices
but I could turn to virtues!   what a spree!"

I didn't dare to ask him   what went wrong?
instead   I asked to hear again   his song



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