Back to Issue 5

My World (ottava rima) by Ida Duplantier

What if the sunrise set? The sunset rose?
What if the snow were warm? The summer cold?
If suddenly our fingers all were toes?
If everyone who's young at once was old?
If sweet were sour? What then do you suppose
Would come of all the logic we've been told?
Well, do you think such madness could occur?
I do and wish things could be like they were.

I'm wide awake in bed and tired in light,
My favorite songs are painful to the ear
While cherished pictures make me lose my sight.
A thousand smiles for twice as many tears.
And what was wrong is now somehow called right
And now what once was peace has turned to fear.
It seems my world was only right with you
But now it's broken. One instead of two.

I Envy Earth by Ida Duplantier

I envy earth, how beautif'lly she blooms
Despite how recently her winter left
And how the evil scorching summer looms
Intending to - again - leave her bereft
Of life and all her newborn children leaves,
The robins who bring color to her hair.
How can she smile when all that she receives
Will be removed and she will lay there bare?
How does she find the love to nurture them?
I guess it's by her tears that this is done -
That vibrant blossoms bloom upon the stem
And fields of flowers dance beneath the sun.
I envy earth and how her tears assist
While mine accomplish nothing yet persist