Once it grew with luscious lust
As fresh as it was new
But desiccated (turned to dust)
Its verdant days are through.
Once it stood in splendid state
To shine as new-born sun
And so it did but radiate
Til’ all its strength was done.
Nothing of its shape is left
Was buried grain by grain
As if unsculptured (now bereft)
Its past is but a stain.
. Give not what would cause despair,
. Offer not the desert to a beggar’s prayer.

© Tim Grace, (WS-Sonnet 66: line 2) 11 April 2011

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To the reader: Is hope a gift? … you’d hope so; false hope is a curse. Mostly, we manage hope, we contain its enthusiasm; restrain its expectation. Having hope is an optimistic trait, a forward-looking approach to life’s unravelling. Giving hope is an altogether different matter. Those who trade on the hopes and wishes of the bereft need be careful of motives; the more needy are prone to false enticements.

To the poet: Punctuation of a poem is important. Shakespeare’s punctuation is creative, but most of all, consistently helpful. His full use of grammatical mechanics is as it should be: obvious yet subtle; deliberate and considered. Beyond a comma, Shakespeare (the masterful wordsmith) wields the heavier tools of trade with confident ease. Deliberately inserted, between semantics and syntax, grammar integrates its purpose and so a string of words is spoken; voiced with expression.

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luscious lust