Shakespeare Sonnet 29:
“Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;”
Is the bard speaking
of the human condition,
or just people like me?
I can make a list of
what I have,
of what I’ve done.
Ain’t bad.
But it’s not enough,
And I can’t point to
something I want to
do that I’m not doing.
The challenge:
Live fully within
the confines of my life;
Giving, loving,
making a difference.
June 28, 2022
poems for friends 
And wanting more
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Wow! Love this piece…
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Thanks Jim
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“giving, loving, making a difference”
Thank you my friend
Gayle
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Harry:
I wonder (speaking as someone who loves almost everything you write) why you excised the rest of the sonnet, which seems so so so critical to the whole of it.
It seems not a poem of lamentation and grief but of joy — exquisite joy — and gratitude, newly re-discovered — no?
“Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.” Just a thought . . .
Thank you so much for always showing your ridiculously fecund mind (who woulda guessed?) and the SMALL WONDER of learning how to fish.
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Your raise a good point. The whole sonnet is more consistent with the poem than what I posted. I was concerned that the whole sonnet would swallow up the poem. Was I being competitive with Shakespeare? Perhaps, as ridiculous as that might seem. BTW I really appreciate your comments.
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Love this poem. And Warren’s comment. I think it’s totally fine to have a long epigraph, even from a famous writer, followed by a short poem that comments on it. And no point in competing with The Bard. That’s like rock guitarists competing w Hendrix. Better to revel in the activity of having a conversation with them
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