Sonnet one hundred & nine

O never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify.
As easy might I from myself depart
As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie:
That is my home of love: if I have ranged,
Like him that travels I return again,
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,
So that myself bring water for my stain.
Never believe, though in my nature reign'd
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could be so preposterously be stain'd,
To leave for nothing all thy sum of good;
        For nothing this wide universe I call,
        Save thou, my Rose; in it thou art my all.


-William Shakespeare

Sonnet sixty five by the bard...

Shakespeare's Sonnet 65

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
   O, none, unless this miracle have might,
   That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

From this lovely website.

Hello!

Greetings blog! It has been too long!

Life has been crazy, but good, as always... To fill you in. I'm taking a gap year and I have been working full time for the last three weeks... COMPLETELY different lifestyle, but i'm getting used to it. So now I am a pharmacy assistant for two pharmacies and I am an employed youth leader. Wooot.  Once again, crazy, but good.

I'm also working on my next book- soooo excited! It's working title is called "Sticks & Stones" with illustrations by the wonderful Rachel Carroll. Stay tuned for more info! I've also had two exhibitions in the last few weeks that I have spoken at - well opened- with a poetry reading. You should definitely check out Cheralyn Darcey's exhibition while it is still open- just google her name! And also, "Reflections" at Dank St, Waterloo... by the amazing Rachel Carroll, Matt Weatherstone, Cade Turner and Meredith Woolnough. Incredible.

At "Reflections" I actually read aloud my first sonnet... It was a strange experience because I used the "Shakespearian" form- and to read out a sonnet based on the writer I admire was a tricky thing. I hope I did it justice! I chose to read my first sonnet because it seemed to capture the essence of the exhibition- "reflections"- because it was exactly that.  A reflection. (s). xx