Sonnet for a spectre
I have of late been haunted by a geist,
a silent spectre's shadow dogs my steps:
I sit and plan a most intrepid heist
to steal your heart - my mind rehearses, preps
the secret words it'll soon deliver -
the weight of failure looms over my soul,
that slim chance of defeat, that cold sliver
of loss to be that undercuts my goal.
Oh, say you won't retreat from destiny,
our star-crossed love that wavers in the wings!
Exorcise my dogged doubt, set me free,
make me yours as the chime of cleansing rings.
O love, if you should choose to walk away,
'twould make a ghost of me, and night of day.
Sonnet for an Ahab
Deep-diving heart, will you be my Judas
and fall for someone that you cannot have?
Will you mistake a calm bit of ludus
and choke on love when you should merely laugh?
Reserve yourself, or have you forgotten
what happened last when you leapt in headlong?
It's no use, you're in a trice besotten,
I hear you beating out a lovers' song.
Aweigh then, heart, let us sail o'er the seas
of love, and may the storms of lust be calm,
may good luck be to us a gentle breeze
and faithfulness a compass in our palm.
Let me be an Ahab, harpoon in hand
for the beast, true love, whose prize I demand.
Sean Patrick received their Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems from Boston University. They live in Freetown, Massachusetts, where they are presently employed as an academic editor and tutor.
Grand Little Things 