sonnet | BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye

How to Write a Proper Sonnet

By Michelle Garren Flye

First, find someone whom you can pledge your heart;

Second, you’ll want to make sure you can rhyme;

Next, make certain you’ve perfected the art

Of striking the beat and staying on time.

Taking the next step is a bit tricky—

Into your feelings you’ll need to dig deep.

Telling us how you feel can get sticky,

But trust me, get ready to take that leap.

Fill your lungs with all the air and desire

You are able to rouse on short notice.

Holler out your emotions with fire!

Then postpone to see who reads your opus.

Instead you could do what I have done here:

Follow the steps without getting too dear.

An attempt at a sonnet, sort of a sonneninzio, inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15:

Everything Grows (for the Bard)

By Michelle Garren Flye

Everything grows, according to Shakespeare—

From the smallest microbe to the tallest tree.

Everything rushes to ends we all fear,

Hurrying along to the only way to be free.

What happens to us in the end, do you think?

What happens at last to the things that grow?

When life’s grasp loosens on eternity’s brink,

And we find ourselves caught in the universe’s flow.

What mysteries might we at last resolve?

Some say we fade, less important than we thought.

But maybe we find our way to finally evolve?

Into something better, something we’ve always sought.

Whatever happens, we can’t deny the bard was right.

Everything grows, everything rushes into the night.

BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye