Jenntertainment’s Weblog

SONNETS

On M.L.K. day, only a handful of students attended our scheduled rehearsal for SCT’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Instead of blocking without all of our characters, I decided to spend the time introducing them to a little thing called the Shakespearian sonnet. After playing around with some of the Bard’s verse, I asked the students to write their own sonnets, using his unique format. I chose not to give them a writing theme or topic or opening line, but just to have them create words and phrases of their own, as they were inspired to do. Here are some of their offerings.

 

‘I stood alone and watched you dance.

You seemed to shine with ethereal light.

I approached you, took a breath, a chance,

But my disturbance shattered the illusion of that night.

Maybe our love was merely a dream,

A nightmare of when we joined to make us.

The haunting remnants of when it seemed

That we were honest and truly in love.

I’m still waiting for your memory to fade

But my heart won’t seem to let you go.

The many promises, under moonlight made,

Bitter falsehoods the morning light did show.

And so our love lies in the past,

Broken and destroyed, like shattered glass.’

A. Schulz, age 16

 

‘Standing in the midst of war

Deep inside his heart did search

A soldier praying to the skies for more

Time for life to leave its perch.

Staring at the blood around

Mixed with memories of early years

And fallen comrades slain on ground

Did awaken his darkest fears.

Tears shed for what just might have been

Had mankind been less a beast

He wept for unforgiven sin

And pondered on the devil’s feast.

For non but devil could cause such pain

As to fall in battle, never to rise again.’

                                                                K. Buice, age 15

 

‘The sun awakens a sleepy sky

Upon a dewy tree trunk I rest.

I wait and watch as the fire birds fly,

Igniting the sun, and brightness at its best.

The morning’s deafening silence rang

This forest is dead, yet so alive.

And in it so far, no birds have sang.

I haven’t been back here since the age of five.

Memories are stirring

I don’t want to come home.

I know changes are occurring.

A nearby river flows, covered by white foam.

As golden dawn turns into noon,

I know the time I dread is coming soon.’

B. Hegarty, age 13

 

‘The sun sets on a deep blue sea.

Heaven rises in the sky, waves blend with the clouds.

We sit on a bridge, a journey to be free.

There is no noise, but the silence is loud.

A sudden calm, like never felt before.

Wild, beautiful, killer creature slowly jumps high,

Jumps so high with a passion in her core.

One by one, millions come, with her they lie.

We look on with awe. I want to join, to swim along.

They wail, those whales, slowly swimming on a secret path.

If only this was real, not a dream or song

But still this sight rids me of all my wrath.

And somehow, they guide me as well,

Entrancing me in some magical spell.’

                                                                K. Charbonneau, age 15

 

‘A burst of life

A spark of light

To diminish strife

And end all plight.

An explosion of sound

An endless chatter

As people are found

By those that matter.

A sigh of relief

Is slowly amassed

With the certain belief

That the storm has passed.

And so people disperse back into the dawn

Now that the power is finally back on.’

                                                                M. Slotin, age 13

 

‘Sitting in the trees

All day long,

Swaying in the breeze

To my favorite song

Seeing little birds

Fly around me in the sky

Like they are in some sort of herd

Me wishing that I could fly

Dreaming as I sleep

So many happy things

Becoming so very deep

To my mind they would cling

Hoping to never wake

From this wonderful daily break.’

                                                                G. Anderson, age 16

 

‘The butterfly sucks the pollen out of the bloom

Flower protrudes out of the soil

The light shineth through the window at noon.

Wind softly flows, the grass looks royal,

The sweet sugar stirs in the tea.

Sun and moon love, stars neareth,

They switcheth in love. Me?

I try my love to pleaseth.

The torture apart,

A violin plays a soft melody.

The love we have is art,

When we come together, no fidelity.

The clouds are not crying

For I am not lying.’

                                                                N. Pearlman, age 13

 

Yeah, I mean it when I say these kids are awesome.