I've been in a particularly sappy/wistful/dreamy
mood lately, so let's start with one of the 2 pieces I can think of that I've
ever modified. As a general rule, I don't modify my writings (can you call them
poems? not really sure), as they usually emerge out of extreme emotional storms,
and as such, are only what was in my heart at the time. I'll fix spelling, but
I'll rarely change structure, so as not to change history, as it were.
Back to the piece. This was just before Valentine's Day 1987, and I don't think
I was dating anyone. As I am wont to do when faced with a romantic holiday and
no romantic partner, I got sappy. Probably poring through Shakespeare, searching
for something that would make me feel better about this. I remember going through
sonnets, and thinking "This can't be so hard."
After several days of rolling it over in my brain, here's what I finally came up with. The 2nd stanza was added some weeks later, under circumstances that have since left my memory. My apologies to Bill.
"Love's Eye Diverted"
Aye, but he whose eyes I love
I fear will ne'er be mine,
For those soft lights which make him fair
On his new love do shine.
2-6-87
And being thus diverted there,
His fondness to impart,
Will never see my auburn hair,
Nor the love within mine heart.
One of my better pieces (as far as structure is concerned), but don't expect any more rhyming. I mean it.
(Go on, finish the quote.....)