Practice Sonnets - an exercise

Photos: D.R. Wagner

These are some examples of our practice sonnets. My email wiped out a couple of times this quarter, so I lost some of them but here is what remains.

Dani Ponce

When I see your face I see pure deceit

Hide behind your false words and kind smile,

For I can see you are full of conceit.

Tell me, did they teach you how to beguile?

Your voice a drone I wish I could ignore

Your eyes constantly tilted toward the skies

Your blubbering about your plight a bore

Your very presence something I despise

People like you I try not to be around

Why hide your true character and play nice?

Your atmosphere with tension you surround

Know that your attitude comes with a price

My aim was purposely not to flatter

Not that to you it will even matter

Danielle Brown

Escape

My foot steps outside my cozy heated dorm.

My eyes look up and see a gray hued sky.

A shiver travels down my spine, I’m no longer warm.

I smile and laugh as I bid summer goodbye.

As I walk, I hear a crunch under my feet.

After bending down I see dark brown leaves.

Slowly, I realize this change in pace is bittersweet.

While making bike rides in the rain I’ll be making many heaves.

The gray hued sky begins to cry.

Immediately I hear the dried ground sing.

I’m so delighted I don’t even try to stay dry.

Instead I watch a bird land and shake it’s wings.

I couldn’t be happier that the sun is beat.

The rain is a nice escape from the heat.

Giselle Rodriguez

To my Father

Remember the day you said you were proud?

The day you called me your one and only star

With determination that from you I endowed

You always said I would go very far

Remember how you were always so brave?

I always wanted to be just like you

Whatever I needed you always gave

With no care of what you had to go through

Remember when I told you of my dreams?

A little girl who just wanted to sing

No matter how crazy it might have seemed

You always believed I could do anything

Remember when you said I was your star?

I will hold that forever in my heart

Elizabeth Harrison

Our World

A wanderer in this life of terror

So lost in this jungle we call the world

Wanting to be free of natures errors

Always looking on with fists clenched and curled

Was there ever happiness in this life

Was there truly anything beautiful

Taking pleasure in another mans strife

Is this why the earth is so sorrowful

Caught in the tornado that is our reality

Words set you free and yet are meaningless

Truth is twisted and distorted from actuality

So many are trapped in their ignorant bliss

Who can tell were we all can go from here

When it seems there is nothing to reach but fear

Juby Geli

Autumn Sonnet

Cold breeze of autumn which suffuse the room

Outside in place of a clear sky are clouds

Dark and gloomy colored puffs that consume

Once former light now a blanket of shrouds

Broken trees in search for a renewal

And falling leaves sifting through empty pavement

Wishing to shine as bright as a rare jewel

Wanting to obtain the perfect pigment

A misty sniff of rain now soothes the soul

Pausing to take breath of life, out and in

This shiftless mood breaks the life of a goal

Turns worries into the weight of a pin

These things which define a new season’s start

Silhouette the trek of a broken heart

Jessica Patru

The Nature of the Fall Season

Leaves the color of marigold and auburn

The trees try to grasp onto them but fail

The foliage falls when it is their turn

The ground carpeted by their tale

A tale of their journey from the trees above

A rush of cool air emerges swiftly

Winds surround me but not like a great love

The gray skies arise and it gets drizzly

The birds begin to migrate south by now

The sweet smell of apples and cinnamon

Pumpkin pie in the oven will allow

Acorns and apple cider are common

School begins at this time for a reason

This is the nature of the fall season.

Lily Viek

Falling Leaves

Poor little leaves change every season

They grow so green only to turn so red

They then fall from trees for no good reason

Fall straight to the ground that becomes their bed

Poor little leaf what a hard life you lead

You’re never taking but always giving

This was not your dream when you were a seed

Do you feel this is a life worth living?

Sometimes blowing in the wind to nowhere

Forced to follow the wind without a fight

No idea what dangers are out there

You just break off of the branch and take flight

Born into spring and living until fall

Poor little leaf with no future at all.

Marielissa Alvarez

A New Leaf

The weather has started to change

The trees will soon be empty

Nature has turned to a new page

Will that will be plenty?

I will not be able to play outside

I will miss the summer breeze

As I sit alone with nobody by my side

While my toes start to freeze

It was fun while it lasted

But now I will have to embark in a new adventure

And will have to become adapted

To the changes of Mother Nature

Change is not always bad

Because it has the power of making someone glad

Allie Gurvitz

Carpe Diem in Fall

You must listen to these wise words for you,

As you are growing up from this day forth.

You will have many dreams that you pursue,

Please live your life without any remorse.

Don’t ever let anything pass you by,

Always keep your spirit up high above.

You might eventually say “goodbye,”

Seize every moment of life that you love.

Time does fly by as fast as you can blink,

So make the most of everything you can.

It will soon be over before you think,

Have fun and don’t always stick to the plan.

Please do not let your concerns hold you back,

Just live through nature’s seasons and attack.

Brandon Buonacorsi

A nap is not just a time of sleeping

It is an escape from the pressures of today.

While we humans walk around all day weeping,

Notice the ones who sleep let no tears slip away.

They rest in peace and tranquility

Completely unaware of necessary work

And awake to find themselves higher in quality

Ready to stretch and arise from bed with a smirk.

The paradoxical things about naps

Is the situation where the longer the rest,

The worse the person feels and their energy is sapped

And the shorter ones are the ones that are best.

To nap, or not nap? That is the question.

Since I have completed this sonnet, I’ll take one without apprehension.

Sabrina Berci

My Childhood Autumn

Fire painted upon cooked, fallen leaves

Beauties of autumn I see as I swing

Harder and faster, legs keep on pumping

While mom calls me in to eat the dumplings

The aroma of pastries, pies, and treats

Travel here to the backyard, greeting me

I can taste the pumpkin, feel the heat spill

Mom opens the oven, my nose is thrilled

Yet I long for a moment more to sing,

To capture the gift of light lingering

To the rope I still cling, breathing in, out

Embracing childhood, free from any doubt

Whenever it ends, I will never ask

Now it is present, my swing ride, my last

Danielle Brown

A Story

She sits up, gazing at the room she’s in,

her long brown hair pinned back with a black rose.

Conjuring memories that bring a grin

thinking of prom dates standing in a pose.

A bright light shines in the dark of night

bringing life to the words in front of her.

Letting her mind travel on a flight

The shine from her heart necklace makes a blur.

Beside her lies a pin from a loved one

that tells her to never give up fighting

Along side it is something loved a ton,

The friendship bracelet stares up, inviting.

Together these items tell a story.

Some that may include triumph and glory

Nicole Schrager

The Nature of Feeling Fall

To think of fall is to think of the leaves

or perhaps Halloween or pumpkin pie.

Maybe the weather- so cold- and long sleeves.

Thoughts turn to presents or new things to try.

The nature of fall is all that and more:

it provokes the painters and lovers and

muses and gazers and much writer’s lore.

It’s powerful mark can’t be told offhand.

For those that would try I give this advice:

please hold yourself back from making it grand.

Stick with the details, like how you feel spice

or taste frost or hold joy inside your hand.

This season comes forth only once per year

so let yourself feel- that purpose is clear.

Alan Talavera

The trees' last hurrah!

Crisp reds, browns, and golds

Nature's symphonic, in the raw

Preview for the segue to solstice colds

Light the applause sign

Rain- pitter patter

Sun- keep up the shine

In the buildings- soft chatter

Ignored by fluorescent adolescents

Again, beating the road

No words for the effervescent present

Solemn, steadfast owing to mode

But the show goes on

And Act IV is winter's denouement