Gratitude

jackpine-sonnet385x300

Honourable mention in the 1st Jackpine Sonnet Contest.

It’s a skill to know the shape
the wild world has in mind for you.
With hardly time to root
your body is battered by quick-tempered storms.
You’re stunned to find yourself alone.
Your parents distant, fiery mobiles,
mythic, predictive as constellations,
your peers across the shore wave frantic warnings
through the coughing rains.
You dream of mastering a certain direction, break
limbs, make compromises, bow
before necessity,
and just when you feel your heart defeated, grow
into a grateful life.

Comments (4)

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This is a beautiful poem; it

This is a beautiful poem; it speaks to the struggle of being a modern human. Through the speaker Phoebe Wang has captured well the life of a lonely person watching life walk past until the moment of giving up: that is when life starts. It is refreshing that this poem is deep yet simple, and that Wang doesn't use any clever literary devices to make the poem complex: it flows like an unhindered river.

Miles more than 12 years ago

that's a sonnet on a

that's a sonnet on a high-wind cliff. love "coughing rains". that should go into common usage. a hopeful upshot is nice.

Anonymous more than 12 years ago

This one (Pheobe Wang's) is

This one (Pheobe Wang's) is brilliant, but I don't get it. The other finalists' poems are not sonnets and they're not about jackpines. Am I missing something here?
cheers,
Cath.

Cath M. (another entrant) more than 12 years ago

The first two lines are so

The first two lines are so succinct, true and beautiful.