Blackbird Sonnets (Poem)

Sonnet I

How shall I fly when feathers be not mine

Though all my wishes skyward do attend?

How tie my wounded heartstrings safe to thine

So thou to me, like sun to moon, descend?

Or if thou wilt not bend thy starry frame,

Wishing to keep thy brow o'ercrowned with mist,

I'll rise so that thy place shall stay the same

But will not then depart from heights unkiss'd.

For bargains may be struck and kept with pride

When lovers from their just demands ne'er hide.

Sonnet II

My lover's eyes are darker than the moon

Or are they brighter? I cannot decide.

His tender voice makes other's out of tune

And shows me how I cannot them abide

His movements are of more than feline grace

His hands are soft and pale as ivory

And though I've rarely seen a stranger face,

More perfect looks I should abhor to see

For others may be pleasanter in part

But all my love remains a work of art.

Sonnet III

How is it that I smile when I am sad?

From what resource do I derive this strength?

I've lost none but a thing I never had

To keep it would I go to any length

But distance is not measured in a heart

So I could weep and say that I've been wronged

And yet, as ever, be so far apart

From him to whom I swore that I belonged

Alas, I blame as though he were untrue

I loved him but, poor fool, he never knew.

Sonnet IV

If all you love I am, as I am quite,

Then why dost thou not love? Dost thou not see

A plainly perfect match? If thou art bright,

Then why, when thou dost love, love'st thou not me?

Instead preferring someone far removed

From all you claim to most admire? I would

Commit you as a lunatic if proved

Thus mad you were my ward for your own good.

And yet I'm making light of my own pain

Because I finally love, yet love in vain.