Now. Back to me. Writing a sonnet a day winds up being more than just sitting for a few minutes and cranking one out. I can do that, at times, but they're not my best. No, a good one takes at least a half hour-- more for those tricky Spenserian jobs-- and then it'll probably want some tweaking when I transfer it from my notebook to my computer. And I like to do more than one a day, if I can, to make up for days when I just can't make it work or there isn't time. And the best sonnets, I feel, are made when I get to sit in a cafe with a beer and sip, scribble, stare, rinse, repeat.
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| World-famous sonneteer returning home after a hard day writing at the bar. |
But something that has happened is that I have started to think in iambic pentameter. I'll be walking along, watching the world and think, "A bus goes down the street and, braking, honks." And then I start to try to think of words that rhyme with honks. This is an example of a bad start, for hardly anything rhymes with honks. Bonks? Gonk (a kind of droid from Star Wars)? Monk is a sight rhyme, but that's not good enough. Anyway, it's made me think of a new game.
I'd like to try to have a conversation
while cleaving to the rules to write a
sonnet.
With practice it could work, without
frustration;
if Shakespeare did it, so can I,
doggone it!
The trick would be to stay
extemporaneous:
no hoarding phrases, prior to the game,
that end with tricky words like
subcutaneous.
The goal's to win together, not to
shame.
Of course, you'd want your lines to
show some skill
and keep your partner always on their
toe.
As they were challenged, so they'd test
your will;
the point is to make beauty, like in
Go.
But I'll admit, not many 'neath the sun
would think of this as their idea of
fun.
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