No Sweeter Spell
Those things that I have told you, little things
That no one else knows, things I’ve dared not share
Fall out my mouth to you as if on wings –
Cavorting swallows free upon the air.
Then fearless do they fly and call aloft
Whole flocks that follow, with their tales untold,
Each skyward drawn to knowing eyes, so soft,
Whose love salves souls, sore-wounded, unconsoled.
What magic’s in you, what do you possess?
What potion, what elixir do you use
To charm the birds that they to you confess
Those secret things that once their hearts did bruise?
No sweeter spell but that your love has cast
On wounded ones forged flightless by the past.
Within Her Colors
How cruel this muse who hides from me her eyes
As if my heart was really free to name
Another in whom inspiration lies,
Another who incites my passion’s flame.
For oft within her colors did I wade
And found there freedom every tale to tell
And fed on wit and laughter unafraid
Of shame that threatens heartpeace to dispel.
But now without her spark to kindle fire
I hunger, wander ravenous in need,
My deepest parts the slave to my desire
To ’hold her face and on her eyes to feed.
Until she deigns once more return my gaze
I, helpless, longing, pained spend all my days.
Author’s Note: The English or Shakespearean sonnet, I believe, may be best read remembering that the iambic meter follows the beat of the human heart – a softer beat followed by a heavier beat. Think, lub-DUB, lub-DUB. With this in mind, if one then reads the sonnet aloud (as it would have often been read in Shakespeare’s time) investing one breath to a line, the body is truly inspired by the breath and heartbeat to embrace the writer’s thoughts and bring them to life. I recommend that you try it, and see where your heart takes you.
Brad Lussier, a native of Rhode Island, was educated in Providence, Newport, and Boston in a variety of disciplines, including literature, computer science, and theology. Having traveled the world as an educator and later as a professional chorister, he now enjoys occasional tours as an actor. When he is not working, he enjoys playing fingerstyle guitar for an audience of one – his 19 year old yellow tiger cat, Rafael. Together they make their home in Orleans, Massachusetts, where Brad continues to enjoy writing sonnets in his spare time.