.

Snapshot

It’s morning and you rise. You shake your hair
And stretch yourself a bit, your elbows high,
Your blue night gown illuminated by
A slant of light that smolders in the air.

I want to keep you here just as you are—
Your smiling face and hair confused just so,
Your two bare feet that step so lightly through
The sun’s pathway that cuts across the floor.

The floor is like a sun dial’s burning face
Now held completely open to the sun,
No eye to close or gaze to turn away.

The walls mere walls, blinds sieve the streaming day,
Yet day still comes, our burning time burns on.
How beautiful it is! This time, this place.

.

.

Steven Frattali worked in the field of mental health and currently lives in Greater Boston. In his former life as an academic, he published two short books: Person, Place and World: A Late Modern Reading of Robert Frost’s Poetry (English Literary Studies, 2002) and Hypodermic Light: Philip Lamantia and the Question of Surrealism (Peter Land, 2003). His book on Elizabeth Bishop is nearing completion along with another on John Wieners.

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One Response

  1. Shamik Banerjee

    This sonnet has plenty to offer to its readers. A slice of life so beautifully presented. The “smouldering slant of light” already tells us it’s a bright morning; the lady’s illuminated gown and the pathway on the floor (I imagined it like a carpet of light) append to the type of day it is. The “sundial” simile is spot on, unique, and immediately adds to the existing delight of reading this piece. Line 13, according to me, can allude to two distinct things: a brief separation between the pair due to day jobs or a longer separation. The couple doesn’t want to go their ways and wishes time to freeze. A perfect sonnet describing love, passion, and the joy of being with someone who makes you feel alive. Thanks for sharing this, Steve. My heart is full.

    Reply

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