rima fragmenta, Fragments of a Rift: Fifty Sonnets for Kevin - 10. tears of a smile turned from a frown

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Sonnet No. 19

Curtains rustling, libations newly poured,

We rest on the daybed outside, fresco,

Pausing our pleasure before its encored

With shisha vapor, laughs and prosecco.

Though so much of life is filled with upset

Roiling beneath everyday commonplace,

In hedonistic calm are worlds beget

Where past and future bow to present grace.

So, beautiful’s the look cast when you raise

The mouthpiece to your lips and tease out smoke;

Perched on your cushions in mystical ways,

Carroll’s shrewd caterpillar you invoke.

Hookah and toadstool, it’s our hearts we prop

With moments as fine as a champagne drop.

Sonnet No. 20

Each time I sit down to pick up a pen,

Like fog the moments of sadness appear

To confuse the happy memories when

Connection was all we had to hold dear.

The choice is mine, and I know it quite well,

To allow present misuse to obscure

The gone-beauty of what I’ve yet to tell,

And make of my glory something demure.

So, vaporous clouds of doubt, I ask you

To not bring reality raining down,

But let my internal light now shine new

And dry tears of a smile turned from a frown.

Is it fair to always ask the same thing . . .

How much peace can “you hurt me” really bring?

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