In the absence of required kit,
we fear ourselves unready.
We lament the missing part of it,
and hold ourselves unsteady.
We see ourselves as incomplete,
as such we so behave,
We cast ourselves as counterfeit,
as fraud and worthless knave.
We dwell upon our weaknesses,
our deficits and flaws.
We worry over pittances,
and under write our scores,
. When need is an all consuming quality
. the gift is lost; nothing’s trimmed with jollity.

Copyright 2016 (text & image) Tim Grace, (WS-Sonnet 66: line 3) (written: 11 April 2011)

To the reader: The undressed nakedness of a manikin has nothing to sell. Life without gloss has a dull patina… cake without icing, shoes without polish. Raw ingredients hardly rally enthusiasm for the product. The bear-staples are just too mundane to sustain our interest. We need the the decoration, the ornamentation, to up-dress our excitement and warrant our celebration.

To the poet: Rhythm, rhyme and emphasis are the working ingredients in this sonnet. Seven references to ‘we’ (and four to ‘ourselves’) underscore the collective message. Establishing the repeats early in the sonnet creates a dependency; we readers are pushed towards the next expected point of emphasis… and we find it waiting.

countefeit