Reading today - went well- OT- attached new sonnet

[Guest guest]

Hi, Friends!

Well, the reading was this afternoon and it went well in spite of a miserable

cold/flu that I have managed to pick up.

I included the villanelle -Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose I sent along previously.

, a-I ask your indulgence for this OT. I know it is not a writer's

workshop - I enjoy sharing this stuff.

This is a new sonnet- combination of sonnet forms- love poem I wrote especially

for and read today. My mom went with me. I am not sure if she completely

realized some of the imagery was based on her shortly after my dad passed away.

She did like the poem.

Where Grace Lies

Each night she would listen for the smallest sound.

Perhaps it would ring bell like- clear and close-

or remain muffled, so soft, so distant when she arose

she would question what she heard. Once, she found

his voice amid the murmur of stars and prayer, reminding

her that he was there, the timbre of his presence shaking

her from her sleep, her loss. Tentative upon waking,

she touched his robe, folded neatly on the bed. Finding

some comfort in its common sense of plaid and wool,

so rough, so ordinary. Shivering she leaned to pull

it to her. It slipped slowly across the comforter

her old friend, whispering secrets and holding her

again. Like a sleeping cat who knows where grace lies,

she caressed it with her face, still mouthing her surprise...

Choate - February 2005

I am going to submit it to Peninsula Poets for publication by Poetry Society of

Michigan.