Unless it has the symmetry of these
iambic feet snugged up in fourteen lines
& filled to boot with mete & fitting rhymes
the sonnet isn’t one. Nor will it please
the reader’s ear: though substitutions tease
the palate, nonetheless a sonnet’s chimes
must ring in perfect pitch & at all times!
Otherwise you’re merely killing trees.
Don’t do it, man! I beg you, let them be
live creatures of live woodlands. If you love
the elegance of octave and quatrain,
the perfect phrase (i.e., “They flee from me...”)
all well & good. If not, best let them live:
a home to birds, to sunrise, sky and rain.
who died on February 13, 2012, was the author and editor of several books, including
Containing Multitudes: Poetry in the US since 1950; Men of Our Time
(an anthology of world poetry edited with Al Zolynas); and Deliciously Italian,
a book about Italian cooking and cuisine.
He was a poet, literary critic, professor of literature at SDSU [San Diego State
University], producer, director, and actor. He was the Founding Editor of Poetry
International, co-produced the award-winning Hannah and Martin
at the Lyceum Theater in 2006, and performed at the Old Globe, The San Diego Rep,
Sledgehammer, Diversionary Theatre, and with other San Diego theatre companies.
His poem, “Elegy for Kenneth Koch,” was awarded a Pushcart Prize in
2012.
A much loved member of the Southern California literary and theater community,
Federico died of cardiac arrest the evening before Valentine’s Day, 2012.
[SHJ Issue 5 (Spring 2012) includes five poems
by Moramarco.]