Sonnet 16 by Richard Barnfield

Long have I longed to see my love againe,
Still I have wisht, but never could obtaine it;
Rather than all the world (if I might gaine it)
Would I desire my love's sweet precious gaine.
Yet in my soule I see him everie day,
See him, and see his still sterne countenaunce,
Where majestie and beautie beares the sway?
Sometimes, when I imagine that I see him,
(As love is full of foolish fantasies)
Weening to kisse his lips, as my love's fees,
I feele but aire: nothing but aire to bee him.
Thus with Ixion, kisse I clouds in vaine:
Thus with Ixion, feele I endles paine.


Source: The Longman Anthology of Poetry (Pearson, 2006)
The Poetry Foundation

A Poem I Found

The Quiet World - Jeffrey McDaniel

In an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
I proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't respond,
I know she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.

After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

She Waits

(Original poetry for Poet, by me.)

She Waits

Darkness spilling across her gown

Soaks the fabric, traces her curves.

Like fingers of a lover's hands,

night hovers, lingers on her skin.

Moonlight framed by chamber window

Whispers glad tidings, "Soon, he comes."

Her heart dares hope, yet she lies still.

Unconvinced in the dark, she waits.

~Ephemera, 21 April, 2011