The We Write Poems http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/ prompt #47 is ‘Musty Minutes.’
Nothing impossible about that prompt, huh? Actually, it appeared to be until I thought of ‘minutes’ like the minutes taken during a meeting. Then it all came together . . . kind of. Well, it has been a while since I’ve angered Shakespeare with a sloppy sonnet, so . . . .
MUSTY MINUTES
by Mike Patrick
Flickr image by ArtByChrysti
The musty minutes, now inscribed upon
the beating diary of my broken heart,
record each thoughtless, angry word thereon,
and mark the end of love’s once happy start.
Those musty minutes, once embraced as times
of love’s great strength, became a faded page
of scribbled, misdirected, tangled lines;
exalted on a sheet now cracked with age.
Would time allow another chance to write
corrections to my twisted, flighty verse?
Or have the musty minutes earned the right
to stand, and make my life a witch’s curse?
In desperation, now I find I stand,
a dreamer, with eraser poised at hand.
The Poet's Quill 
Brilliant take on the title !!!
Liked your lines 🙂
Hey! Your iambic pentameter is pure. You have a rhyme scheme. You have a point per quatrain. I don’t think Shakespeare would be too angry. Well done. Me trying to write a sonnet…involves time and swearing. Think about it. The form is considered the queen of poems because of its difficulty level and you have a successful sonnet.
I love this, Mike – to have written a sonnet so soon after the prompt, is awe-inspiring.
In your first stanza, as minutes are plural, should ‘records’ be ‘record’?
Good catch, Viv. Corrected, thank you.
I love the phrase “flighty verse”…isn’t it the truth sometimes?
I have started a new prompt blog would love to have to participate!
I love sonnets, Mike. I admire anyone who writes them. Nicely done to the prompt.
Pamela
You’ve done justice to a timeless form. I enjoyed this.
Matthew
First at all, my English is in process, so you can point to me any mistake. I loved your poem… when I wrote it, I was thinking: “seems wtitten by me” 😉 I mean I know those feelings.
It´s the first time that i read something yours and I like, was easy for me.
I liked these lines:
“In desperation, now I find I stand,
a dreamer, with eraser poised at hand.”
Thanks for share it.
Soraya
Thank you, Soraya. I wish you luck with your English. It is not an easy language. It is the only language I know, and I’m still trying to get the hang of it.
I like this poem, even though it is a sonnet. I applaud your efforts beause they succeed. Mine end up sounding like so much gibberish.
Elizabeth
Not gibberish. I thought it was great.
I like the reps of ‘musty minutes’. I don’t think anyone else has done that.
Bravo, Mike. I particularly liked: ‘a faded page
of scribbled, misdirected, tangled lines’
I find sonnets REALLY hard so I’m doubly impressed.
A fine sonnet. I like how you build ideas in the first two stanzas of heart, love, and writing, and then in the third stanza reflect on those. And the couplet ends it perfectly. An excellent take on “musty minutes”.
nicely written Mike…..thanks for sharing your words
I really like that! And how clever of you to think of “meeting minutes.” Very nice!