April is National Poetry Month

I tried writing sonnets, but somehow always stumbled.  Then I took a class from a woman who wrote wonderful sonnets.  She said, "Choose the end words first."  So simple and yet it had eluded me for years.  Here is a sonnet I wrote for my husband many years ago.

On First Bringing My Husband To Lake Superior

Lying, protected by these blazing sun-

flowers, my shoulders stinging, pinking, red
with too much sun.  Before this day is done
and we leave this sanctuary, I head
into Superior’s blue again.  White-
caps slap my ankles; north wind bites my cheeks.
This is my gift to you – my great delight –
In wind and these shrill gull-calls my God speaks.

Chicago boy, now grown to man, I know
your soul.  Your rapt attention to this sound
will become your sonata once we go.
This beach and Lake, to me, are hallowed ground.
I bring you to this sacred space to share
this cerulean inland sea, so rare.